The Ancient Curse
by The TurquoiseCow
Summary: Last in the Series. Kidnapping, murder, and threats of worse from someone with an ancient grudge threaten Daisuke and everyone around him. Who is behind this? Can he find out before it's too late? story completed 26 April 2009!
1. Interrupted Journey

The Ancient Curse

Part One: Interrupted Journey

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**Important Note**: This is the **sixth **(and possibly the last) story in a series. If you haven't read the previous stories, you'll probably be _very_ lost. Still want to read? Begin with The Dark Bandit, and go from there.

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**Standard Disclaimer Thingie**: _Digimon_, all related characters and money, is not mine. I have very little money for you to take. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Thanks!

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It was a warm day in early spring. The sky was clear and blue, with only a few flawless puffy white clouds floating within it. The grass was slowly returning to its bright green state after months of brown.

The ocean was made of beautiful blue waters that splashed up in perfect-looking waves against the rocky coastline. Fish frolicked happily in its depths, oblivious to the fishing boats which hunted them further away from shore. The waters were calm and peaceful, and seemed to stretch on for all eternity.

At the top of a cliff, at the edge of the ocean, a quiet dirt road meandered through a field of grass. The purpose of this road was to lead travelers south from the port city of Kido by way of the westernmost coast. About two day's journey south of Kido was a place known as Westernmost Point, which was the farthest west that anyone in Yagami could travel without leaving the land. It was a popular vacation spot for residents of Kido, and so this road was well traveled in the summer months.

For the time being, however, only a single carriage was traveling upon it. It was a sturdy carriage, pulled by a lazy but dependable Monochromon, which was lumbering along at a slow but steady pace. Monochromon rarely traveled at very fast speeds, unless they were frightened of serious danger, and this particular one was no exception to the rule. The carriage was traveling from Kido toward the palace, a journey which ordinary took anywhere from two to four days, depending upon weather and the temperament of the Monochromon.

The occupants of the vehicle, the driver, his partner Plotmon, and the Monochromon pulling it, were all very unaware of the fact that they were being watched. They had, in fact, been watched since they'd left Kido the day before, and they had been followed since then.

As the carriage approached a forested area, a dozen pairs of eyes were watching its arrival from behind the trees. The area in question was well known as a place in which bandits, robbers, and other unsavory characters would lie in wait and attempt to ambush innocent, unsuspecting travelers. Most people who knew any better took a weapon with them when passing this area. Those who could afford it brought along guards.

The Monochromon lumbered on slowly, occasionally pausing to eat a bit of the new grass which was sprouting along the side of the road. The driver's partner Plotmon was napping lazily in the warm sun on the roof of the carriage, snoring lightly. His partner was only half paying attention to his job, as it was an uneventful journey he'd made hundreds of times already.

The windows of the carriage were opened to allow in the warm breeze and the cool ocean smells. As they rumbled along slowly, a small, yellow colored digimon with long, wing-like ears squeezed his not-so-small behind through the window and hovered in the air beside the carriage.

"I'll be back in a little bit," he called back to the others, and took to the air, flapping his wings in a surprisingly effective method of flight. As he passed over the carriage, Plotmon opened his eyes and peered sleepily up as a small shadow passed over him, but then returned to his nap almost immediately.

Patamon easily rose into the air and soared cleanly over the plains. He circled the carriage a few times, taking in the sight of the nearby ocean, and then flew on a bit ahead, enjoying the feeling of flight. After two months in the Northern Kingdom, during the cold of winter, he was in high spirits from the warm spring weather.

When he reached the edge of the forest, Patamon set down on one of the higher branches of a very tall tree and looked back toward the carriage, which was slowly lumbering up the road toward the wooded area. Feeling lazy, Patamon thought he might take a short nap while he waited, and so shut his eyes and let his ears droop to his sides.

Suddenly, a voice nearby awoke him. It was a quiet, hushed voice, nearly a whisper, but his long ears were quite good at hearing as well as flying, and so he heard quite clearly.

"Don't lose those, or you'll be stuck here," said the voice. It was a male voice, sharp and commanding, not particularly old or young, but competent and authoritative. Curious, Patamon raised his ears once more and flew in the direction of the voice.

He found him a short distance away. It was a young man, perhaps thirty years of age at the most, with a small Gazimon partner by his feet. The Gazimon looked particularly ferocious, but the man himself was nothing to laugh at, either.

He was a tall young man, with long, dark hair bound into a braid at his neck. He wore a pair of dark blue trousers made of silk and a tunic of the same fabric. Over his shoulders was thrown a long white jacket, tied around his waist with a black belt. On his back was strapped a sword.

_A bandit?_ Patamon wondered, but doubted this, for the man was dressed in an odd fashion for a thief. He was not going to be very successful at hiding while wearing a long white coat, either.

The man in the white coat appeared to be the leader of a group of about a dozen men who surrounded him now. Each of them was dressed entirely in black, and each carried a sword in the same manner upon his back. None of the other men had a digimon with him, so the Gazimon was the only one present. None of them spoke, but several of the men in black were closely examining something they held in their hands. Patamon could not clearly see what the objects were, but thought he saw a glint of red color as the sunlight filtered through the treetops.

Having taken in the situation, Patamon turned to leave the forest, thinking that it might be best to bring his partner this odd information. He had only flown a short distance away, however, when he heard the leader's voice once more.

This time, he spoke only a single word. "Now."

Patamon turned back, curious, and saw that the entire group had vanished. For a moment, he hovered in midair, staring at the empty space, and then wondered if he had imagined the entire thing. Before he could come to any conclusions, however, he heard the sound of a blood-curdling scream coming from somewhere behind him.

Without another thought, he turned back in the direction from which he had come and flew back to his partner with all speed.

Takeru was coming out of the carriage when his partner arrived on the scene. He was thankfully unhurt, which caused Patamon to breathe a sigh of relief. Though the scream had not sounded like Takeru's voice, it had nonetheless caused him to panic for a brief moment.

It was the driver who had screamed, and for a good reason: there was a sword protruding through his stomach, and a great deal of blood was pouring from the wound. The man who had caused the wound, one of those dressed in black who Patamon had seen in the woods a short while earlier, was standing atop the carriage a short distance away.

The small Plotmon, who had been napping atop the vehicle, cried out a tiny squeak, and then deleted as the last bit of life drained from his partner.

The killer removed his sword from the body and the driver fell forward, lifeless. Blood dripped from the blade and fell to the ground below, where it began to form a small puddle beneath the wheel.

Takeru and Hikari had left the carriage when they'd heard the scream, and had been and now continued to stare at the body of the driver as though they did not completely comprehend what had happened. Then, without warning, the man who had killed the driver vanished.

"What - ?" Takeru questioned, slowly coming to his senses. He turned toward Hikari. "What's going on?"

She was similarly clueless. Before anything else could be said, Patamon called out, "Takeru!" from a short distance away.

Hearing the voice, Takeru turned his head and noticed his partner's arrival from the direction of the forest. "I'm all right," he said, guessing that he might be worried. Upon arrival, Patamon sat himself in his usual spot atop his partner's head. "The driver's dead, but I have no idea why." He was looking up at the roof of the carriage as he spoke.

"Maybe someone didn't like him?" Tailmon suggested.

"Really didn't like him," Hikari answered. "Didn't like him enough to kill him. Who, though? Who would a carriage driver make angry enough to kill him?"

"No one who bothered to tell his story," Takeru replied. He was already climbing up the side of the vehicle as he spoke.

"Do you have to go up there?" Patamon questioned. "It's pretty obvious he's dead: you're not going to be able to bring him back to life."

"Someone has to take care of the body anyway," his partner answered. "We can't leave him up here, especially if we want to get home."

"Do you think there's a chance that whoever that was might come back?" Hikari called up from the ground where she was waiting. She turned and looked out across the empty plains.

Takeru had not considered that possibility. He had reached the top of the cart and was looking down at the body of the driver, who was lying, facedown, a great deal of blood pooling from the wound in his stomach. The sight of it made him nauseous for a moment, and he took a deep breath while waiting for his stomach to settle.

There was a gentle cool breeze that smelled of salty ocean water. It skipped lightly over the fields, through the grass, rustling the new leaves in the forest.

"He's dead," said a voice Takeru didn't recognize, and then saw that a man in a long white coat was standing a short distance from him on the roof of the carriage.

The man's dark eyes were narrow and cold: the death meant nothing to him. As the breeze passed by, his coat floated behind him. His hair, tied in a long braid at his neck, gently waved before settling down once more.

"Who are you?" Takeru asked, and turned to glance toward Hikari, to see her reaction to this strange development.

She was surrounded now by a dozen men dressed all in black like the one who had killed the driver. None had drawn his weapon yet, but something about the nature of their stances and the cold, hard expression on each face made Takeru fearful. He took a step forward, intending to climb back down.

In an instant, the man in the white coat had drawn his sword and stretched out his arm, blocking Takeru. "A message," he said in the same cold, emotionless voice.

"Message?" Takeru echoed, turning back toward him. "What message? What are you talking about?"

"Takeru?" Hikari said then in a fearful voice, and he turned back. Hikari rarely sounded very fearful, even in the most dangerous situations. The men had narrowed the circle, and they were now only inches away from her. She looked now toward the man in the white coat. "What do you want?"

He smiled a broad grin now, the first sign of emotion he had shown. "You," he replied, and then nodded. It was a quick, slight move, so sudden and subtle that it was barely noticeable.

Then, with no puffs of smoke or flashes of light – with no sound or light at all – the men and Hikari and Tailmon had all vanished.

Forgetting the sword in his path, Takeru took another step forward. "Hikari?" he questioned. The sword was no longer there, or perhaps he had moved it aside, he was not quite certain. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground where she had once stood. "Hikari?!" he called, and his voice carried across the empty plains.

There was no response.

Panic flooded into Takeru's veins now. He could hear his heart beating loudly in his ears. It suddenly became very difficult to breathe. Patamon took to the sky, flying quite some distance into the air. He returned a moment later, shaking his head.

"I don't see anything," he reported.

Takeru looked back toward the carriage. The man in the white coat had vanished again; there was now only the body of the driver lying in a pool of his own blood. "Where did they come from?" he demanded, his confusion slowly beginning the transformation to anger. "Where did they go? Why did they kill the driver?"

Patamon had no answers, only further speculations that wouldn't help matters, so he kept them to himself. "What do we do now?" he questioned.

Before Takeru could force his mind to think of a plan of action, the voice of the man in the white coat spoke again.

"A message," he said once more, and Takeru saw that he was now standing only a few steps away.

"What are you talking about?" Takeru demanded, "What message? For who?"

The man's lips curved into a smug smile. He stretched out his arm, revealing a small roll of parchment about the length of his hand. "Motomiya," he said then, and his eyes narrowed slightly at the sound of the name.

"What - ?" Takeru questioned, for this had not explained anything in his eyes. The man tossed the small parchment across the short distance, and Takeru caught it easily. He was about to unroll it when the man spoke again.

"No," he said, and his voice was a harsh command. "Give it to him. The message is for him."

"I don't understand," Takeru stated plainly. "What do you want? What's the message? What does this have to do with Motomiya? Where did you take Hikari?"

"Give it to him," the man said again. "Tell him to be at Westernmost Point in three days." He raised his arm again, and tossed something else across the space between them that Takeru caught easily.

It was a red jewel, slightly smaller than his palm, and set into a surround of ancient-looking metal. A long leather cord seemed to allow it to be worn around the neck. As Takeru looked at it, it glinted brightly in the sunlight.

"Three days?" he questioned. "That's not possible. He's at least a week's journey from here, probably two."

"Use the amulet," the man said. "Three days, if he doesn't want her to die." Then, he was gone.

"Die?" Takeru echoed. "Hey, wait! What am I supposed to do with this? Who are you?"

He was gone, however, and this time seemed to show no sign of returning. Takeru looked at the red jewel, then toward the carriage, where the body of the driver was still lying. He looked around the empty space, wishing that he understood, even slightly, what was going on.

Finally, feeling tired, confused, and exhausted from all the thinking which had produced no conclusions, he sat down in the grass. "I am dead," he mumbled, and rubbed his head with his hands. "I am so dead."

Patamon, setting down in the grass beside his partner, was confused. "Dead?"

"Dead," Takeru repeated, and rubbed his eyes. "If Daisuke doesn't kill me, then Taichi will. Gods," he mumbled, and lay back in the dirt. "What the hell is going on?"

"Well, if you're going to reach him," Patamon said a moment later when his partner showed no sign of movement, "you might want to get up and start walking."

"It doesn't matter!" Takeru replied, waving one arm around in frustration. "This message says that Daisuke is supposed to be here – a day's journey from here, to be exact – in three days. It will take me two weeks – four days, if we fly, at least – to get to him, and then another four days for him to get back! There's no way. It's not possible!"

Patamon was silent for a long moment, having nothing to say to this.

"Which means that, no matter what I do, she's dead. She's dead! So I'm better off lying here in the dirt and waiting to die because there's no way I can succeed!"

Patamon waited a few moments for his partner to calm down and then said, in the calmest voice he could muster, "The man said to use the amulet."

"How am I supposed to do that?" he questioned. "Do I shout at it? I don't know what to do with the stupid thing. He might have left me instructions."

Patamon sighed. "Well, lying around here yelling at me isn't going to make things happen," he replied sternly. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself and start trying something."

Takeru sat up. "Trying what?" he demanded.

"Well, those guys managed to pop in and pop out instantly," the digimon reasoned calmly, "and each of them was carrying one of those amulet things."

"They were?"

"They were in the forest," Patamon replied, pointing with one ear in that direction. "They were all holding one, and the leader said 'Don't lose them, or you'll be stuck here.'"

"So they used them to teleport?" Takeru questioned, studying the amulet with a renewed interest.

"That would be my guess," his partner answered. "Isn't it true that teleportation usually isn't possible by a single person because it takes a lot of energy?"

"Usually," Takeru answered, "though we both know there's an exception to that rule. We teleported from Takaishi to Hida…with the help of a magical crystal."

"So maybe this thing works the same way," Patamon concluded with a shrug. "If that's the case, it would be very easy for you to get to…wherever Daisuke is…and back in three days. In less, even."

"Only one way to find out," Takeru decided, suddenly feeling motivated to at least attempt the task before him. He got to his feet, and Patamon set down upon his head once more. "Ready?"

"I'm ready," came the reply, and then they were gone.

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Hikari was aware of a cold, silent darkness that surrounded her for the interminable length of three heartbeats. Then, it was over, and she was in a place with light once more.

It was a room, a small room, with walls made of ancient stone. There was a small fire burning in a fireplace which was set in the wall. A tiny window had been carved out a short distance above this. Along one wall was a wooden bench which ran the entire length of the short wall. The other three walls were all exactly the same length.

For a moment, she was surrounded by men dressed in black, and then they vanished, and she was alone. Tailmon had apparently not come with her.

"Wait!" Hikari called to the men, but they had already vanished. "Where is this?"

No answer came to her question. She turned slowly, peering around the room. A sturdy wooden door was on the wall across from the fireplace. It had no window in it so that she might see out. It was likely that the door was locked, but she tried it anyway, and found that it did not open.

"Takeru?" she called hopefully, but he didn't answer. She wondered if he was back on the plains. She wondered how far she had been transported.

There was no noise. Sighing, Hikari crossed the room and sat down on the bench to wait for something to happen.

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If anyone's reading this, thanks for taking the time to get this far. I might have said this previously, but I'm pretty sure this will be my last fanfic (at least for quite some time, or at least the last one I put on ). It may interest you to know that I've actually written quite a bit _ahead_ this time (which I rarely do) and I've actually planned out pretty much the entire story (which I have _never_ done before). This means that A: the story will proceed toward a goal rather than aimlessly rambling through 29 chapters before ending and B: it might actually get updated on a regular basis.

Here's hoping. Thanks again for reading.


	2. A Meal of Fish

**The Ancient Curse**

**Part Two: **A Meal of Fish

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**Standard Disclaimer Thingie: **_Digimon_, all related characters and money, etc, is not mine. Plot, however, is. Attempts to take money from me will result in…well…nothing. Sorry. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo. Thanks.

* * *

In the northernmost parts of Yagami, the sun was descending behind the mountains. At the tops of these mountains, snow still lay and temperatures remained wintry, but in the valleys between the peaks, the snow had melted and spring was beginning to arrive.

It was still far colder than Miyako would have liked. She would have liked it very much more if this journey had taken them to the southernmost parts of Yagami, where spring arrived earlier and the weather was more to her taste. The Ogremon in the north, however, were the ones who had decided to make trouble.

She was sitting on a log beside a roaring fire, watching and waiting for a half-dozen fish to cook. They had been freshly caught that morning in a cold mountain stream, and were now skewered upon some sharpened sticks. The smell of them filled the quiet valley and made her stomach growl, but they were not yet finished, and she had to exercise all of her self control not to grab one and try to eat it now.

"They won't cook any faster if you watch them," Hawkmon told her in a smug, maternal sounding voice. Miyako decided it was better to ignore him than to argue with him, though she did frown and narrow her eyes in his direction.

"They smell so good," V-mon said with a sigh. "Are you sure they're not finished yet?"

"Not yet," she answered, sighing as well.

There was a pot of hot water nearly boiling for tea, and a bit of dried vegetables brought from a nearby village. These, too, were cooking, and smelled pretty good, but the smell of fresh fish cooking was intoxicatingly delicious.

A quiet thud sounded as Ken set down a pile of sticks and twigs on the ground beside her; more firewood. He then sat down upon the log beside her and added a few of the twigs to the flames. "Not done yet?" he questioned, and sounded a bit disappointed.

"No," she replied in a voice that was half sigh and half groan. "I'm so hungry."

"Won't be much longer," Ken said optimistically, leaning in to look more closely. "A few minutes, probably."

"A few minutes too long," Miyako whined, and sighed. "I wish I was back at the palace eating a feast of fish. A feast. Doesn't that sound good?"

"You're only going to make yourself more hungry if you do that," Hawkmon told her, which earned him another death glare.

"They'll probably have a feast when the baby's born," Ken said, hoping to intervene before a fight took place. "It will probably be a big celebration."

"Oh, yes," she said, sighing happily this time. "Dancing. Feasting. Pounds and pounds of fish and soups and stews and vegetables and meat and pudding and cake." She sighed again, imagining it all.

"And hundreds of people to eat it all," he added.

"There should be more parties, I think," Miyako said. "If I was Queen, my first official act would be to throw a party."

"That usually _is_ the first thing anyone does," Hawkmon pointed out, "to celebrate that they've become Queen."

"Yes," Miyako said, "but then there aren't too many parties after that. There should be one every few weeks."

"There are a lot of parties," Ken disagreed. "There's a festival every time the season changes, every time someone has a birthday, every time someone gets married or has a baby or something like that."

"Yes, but how often does that sort of thing happen?" she replied dismissively. "Speaking of which…."

Before she could continue, the sound of crashing branches in the trees nearby interrupted the conversation. Alarmed, Ken got immediately to his feet.

"It might be a wild digimon," Hawkmon suggested, as everyone present turned to stare in the direction the noise had come from.

"Maybe," V-mon stated, "maybe it's not."

"Maybe," Wormmon put in, "it's a bandit."

"In the middle of nowhere?" Miyako questioned. "There isn't anyone here to rob!"

"We're here," Hawkmon reminded his partner.

"If he is a bandit," V-mon stated, "he's not a very good one, because he just made a lot of noise and gave away his hiding place."

Ken bent to the woodpile and located a sturdy-looking stick to use as a torch. The sun slowly sinking made it a bit difficult to see, and in the trees it was only likely to get worse. He stuck the branch into the fire for a few moments until it had lit, and then took a few steps toward the woods.

"Do you want me to go?" Miyako questioned. "I could…."

"No," he answered without looking back. "It's nothing dangerous."

"How do you know that?" she demanded. "We have no idea what it might be!"

He didn't respond, but vanished into the shadows of the trees, which were growing ever darker by the second.

After a moment, two figures emerged once more from the woods. One was Ken, and he was apparently supporting a second person.

"Takeru?" Miyako questioned when he came into view. "How did you - ? What happened?"

There were a few small scratches on his arms and a rather nasty looking cut on his cheek. His hair had a few small twigs in it, and a leaf had attached itself to his shirt. He was also limping slightly, which was why Ken was helping him to walk.

"Apparently I misjudged the landing or something," he answered, sitting down in a free space on a log by the fire. "Instead of landing safely on the ground, I landed in a tree, and then I had a bit of trouble getting down, which is how I twisted my ankle."

Patamon sat down on the log beside the other digimon and sighed at his partner, shaking his head slightly. "Could have been a lot worse," he admitted. "I suppose we should count ourselves lucky that we made it somewhere near the right spot."

Ken had, during this entire explanation, been locating the box with medical supplies that they had wisely brought with them on this journey, and found a bandage which might be useful for wrapping an ankle. He sat beside Takeru, who now began to remove his shoe and sock.

"I'm sorry if I've missed something," Miyako interrupted before Takeru and Patamon could go on about injuries and luck and relative harm and such. "How did you get here? Why are you here? I thought I had heard that you were heading home by way of Kido."

"I was," Takeru said, "I mean, I did. This afternoon I was in a carriage on a road heading south from Kido. Unfortunately, I was interrupted. I got here using this." He tossed the red jewel to Miyako, who caught it with ease and studied it.

"A teleportation crystal?" she questioned, having read of their existence and thus coming to that conclusion. "Where did you get one of these?"

"It was given to me," he replied with a frown, and then looked around the campsite. "I am in the right place, aren't I? Daisuke was supposed to be with you two…." His eyes fell upon V-mon, who was sitting with the other digimon a short distance away.

"He's taking a bath," Ken answered, having completed the task of bandaging Takeru's ankle. "There's a stream a little ways from here, and we all needed one after spending a week with Ogremon. He should be back in a few moments, and then we'll eat."

"Oh!" Miyako said suddenly, having forgotten the fish in all the commotion. "Oh, I hope they're not overcooked."

"They still smell good," V-mon put in optimistically.

"They do, they do," she agreed, and set the three of them on a plate so they might cool enough to eat. "Oh, but now that Takeru's here, there'll be less for each of us."

"Sorry," Takeru said immediately, noting that the digimon all were looking toward him with a bit of unhappiness.

Before anything further could be said, however, the trees at the opposite side of the clearing parted, and Daisuke emerged into the campsite looking quite a bit pleased with himself about being clean. "I hope the food's ready," he announced, "because I'm starving, and that smells really good."

"It's ready, it's ready," Miyako replied without even looking up from the fish, which she was slowly removing from the skewers. "Give it a minute to cool, that's all, and then we'll eat."

"Great," he said, sitting down on one of the nearby logs. He opened the lid on the pot of dried veggies that had been cooking, and smelled the concoction within. "Smells great." He looked up from the pot then and saw Takeru.

Unexpectedly, rather than stating a greeting or explanation (which seemed like what ought to happen), Takeru merely froze upon eye contact. He stopped blinking, sat up a bit straighter, and seemed to grow a bit pale. For a moment, it even seemed as though he had stopped breathing.

"Takeru teleported in using some sort of crystal," Ken explained, noting the questioning look upon Daisuke's face and speaking before the question could be asked.

"Teleported? To the middle of nowhere?" Daisuke questioned. "What for?"

At this question, Miyako looked up from the fish, which she had been carefully cutting into equal portions. This question had been neither asked nor answered yet. Immediately, all eyes were upon Takeru, who was still looking as though he might die at any moment.

"I…have a message," he said slowly, and struck out his hand. It was holding a small roll of parchment about the length of his palm. "For you."

"From who?" Daisuke questioned, automatically leaning forward to take it from him, stretching across the fire and the space between them.

"I don't know," Takeru answered. "He didn't say…he wouldn't say who he was."

There was a long silence as Daisuke slowly opened the document and began to read. The fire crackled quietly.

"Did the same person who gave you the crystal give you the message?" Miyako questioned in a quiet voice. Takeru nodded silently.

Daisuke had finished reading. He lowered the parchment. Even in the dimming light they could see that his expression was not a good one. "Where?" he asked Takeru.

Takeru took a deep breath in and then slowly breathed out. "Westernmost Point," he answered.

He narrowed his eyes, deepened the frown that was already present. For a moment, he was silent, thinking, and then he asked: "When?"

Now Takeru swallowed before he spoke. "Three days."

"What?"

The word exploded in thin air, filling the silent valley with noise for a brief moment. All eyes turned from Daisuke, who was staring, wide eyed in an almost panicked expression, to Takeru, who had obviously been expecting such a reaction. He winced at the sound as though he had been struck physically.

"That's not possible," Daisuke went on without waiting for an answer to his question; all eyes turned back to him immediately. He got to his feet, apparently having lost interest in the meal. "V-mon," he said then.

"Wait a minute," Ken interrupted when Daisuke had crossed the campsite and picked up his bag. "Where are you going?"

"Westernmost Point," he replied simply, hefting the pack over his shoulder.

"You're not going to get there in three days," he pointed out.

"No," he answered with a sigh. "No, I'm not. If I don't go, though, I'm probably going to be killed, and so I might as well make it easy for him."

"Easy for who?" Miyako interrupted. She was looking at Takeru, who was still sitting completely without moving. "Who's going to kill you?"

"Taichi," he answered, and took a step in the direction the sun had set.

"Wait, would you?" Ken said, stepping in front of him. "At least tell us what's going on." He looked toward Takeru expectantly.

"I don't have time," Daisuke replied dismissively, and waved a hand to indicate to Ken that he wanted him to move aside.

"What's at Westernmost Point?" Hawkmon questioned.

"Hikari," Takeru said then, and all eyes turned back to him, even Daisuke's.

"What? Why is she…?" Miyako began.

"They took her," he replied in a quiet voice. "They came from nowhere, using those crystals. They all had one. They came and then they vanished. He gave me the message and a crystal. I don't know who he was. He only said I had to bring the message here."

"They took Hikari?" Miyako questioned. "They took…?" She was slightly pale. She turned toward Daisuke. "Why?"

"I don't know," he replied in a impatient voice. "I can't be at Westernmost Point in three days, so she's going to die, and that means…." He stopped talking, perhaps because everyone knew what that meant, perhaps because he didn't want to contemplate what it meant, perhaps because he could tell that his voice was about to break.

Perhaps all three.

"You could be at Westernmost Point in three days," Ken interrupted. "You could be there in three minutes, if you use the crystal."

"I can't use that," Daisuke replied pragmatically. "I can't use magic, remember?" He took another step.

"No," Ken replied, taking a step to the side in order to block his path, "but Takeru can, and he could take you with him, I'm sure."

"Is that possible?" V-mon questioned. He was not eager to trek across the kingdom from one side to the other on foot, especially if such a journey was going to lead to his death.

All eyes turned toward Takeru, who blinked a few times and looked toward Miyako with a questioning expression. "I don't know," he said, "I've never…."

"It's probably possible," Miyako replied, having done a bit of reading about teleportation crystals. "It would use a bit more magic than he's used to, so it would tire him a lot, but it's not unheard of. I would suggest, however, that he at least get some rest before you try it."

"How much rest?" Takeru questioned.

"I should think a good night's sleep would be enough," she answered. "Enough so you've recovered what energy you lost today."

"You see?" Ken said, then. "Tomorrow morning, you can go. You'll be a day _early_, in fact. All right? Come on, sit down. Eat something."

"Yes," Miyako agreed, having already divided and doled out the fish on to plates. "We should all eat something."

* * *

The room had grown slowly darker as the sun had set, and less light came in through the small window. The fire quietly burned away so that it also became a bit colder. Hikari sat upon the wooden bench and waited.

When the sunlight had completely vanished and the fire was merely a pile of glowing embers, the door opened. Three men entered. Two were dressed entirely in black and the third wore a long white coat and carried a lantern in his right hand. With four people now in it, the room seemed incredibly crowded and small.

"Who are you?" Hikari questioned without getting up from the bench. The man only shrugged and nodded his head slightly. The two men stepped past him and stopped on either side of her.

For a brief moment she thought of struggling, of fighting against them, but then she decided against it and so got to her feet. The man in the white coat nodded once more, this time tilting his head toward the door behind him, and Hikari walked toward it, the two other men following behind her.

They walked for a few minutes down a twisting corridor, guided only by the light of the lantern. Every few steps they turned around another corner, sometimes in one direction, sometimes in another. Finally, they halted beside another sturdy wooden door, which the man in the white coat opened.

The room beyond was circular. At the center was a table, wide enough for a single person to lie upon. There was a pile of chains at the foot of the table.

There were no windows in this room, but a large, bright fire burned in a fireplace on the wall opposite the door. The walls were made of stone, and long, wide beams stretched across the ceiling. Above, the ceiling arched upward in a dome-like shape, making the already large room feel even larger.

Hikari took a few steps into the room and took it in. The two men in black left the room then, shutting the door behind them. The man in the white coat rested the lantern he carried upon a hook beside the door and waited.

She turned away from the room at the sound of the door closing and waited for him to say something. When he didn't, she decided it wouldn't hurt to try to ask another question. "Can you tell me where I am? Why I'm here?"

"Westernmost Point," he replied simply.

"What is this building?" she asked, and turned slowly, taking in the room. "What is this room?"

"It was once a shrine," he answered, stepping away from the door. He walked past her toward the table at the center. It was made of stone. "A long time ago, sacrifices were made here."

Hikari took a step backwards. "Sacrifices?" she echoed, suddenly feeling cold. "Do you intend to…?" She couldn't finish the sentence.

He didn't answer. He laid one hand upon the smooth stone and then turned back to face her, an odd look in his eyes. It looked as though his dark eyes were filled with regret, with sadness, but something else.

"Perhaps," he said, finally, and stepped away from the table. "I don't know."

She didn't quite know what to say to that, and so said nothing, only waited. Slowly, he crossed the room until he was standing directly in front of her.

He was taller than her by a few heads; her eyes only reached his shoulders. They were broad, muscular shoulders, obviously full of strength. She tilted her head upward and saw that his dark eyes were filled with neither pleasure nor anger, but some other familiar yet unidentifiable emotion. He raised one hand and placed three fingers upon her throat, his thumb and the last finger upon her collarbone.

She could sense the magic before it came, but had no time to plan, to resist, to fight it in any way. It flowed through his fingers, through her skin, into her body, before she was even aware of what was happening. She could feel the warmth, the cold of it, and then her head felt light and weak.

"What will you do?" she questioned, and her voice sounded distant to her own ears.

He didn't answer, but his face became blurry. Hikari felt her knees grow weaker, as though her legs suddenly had no strength, and then her eyes fell shut.


	3. The Maze

**The Ancient Curse**

**Part Three:** The Maze

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all characters and money and whatnot, is Not Mine. The plot of this story, however, is. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Seriously. Mooing is important.

* * *

The wind from the ocean was strong and smelled heavily of salt water. The waves beat against the cliff's edge. Green grass, waving in the strength of the breeze, covered the plateau at the top of the cliff.

Takeru appeared from nowhere, and Daisuke beside him, one hand upon his shoulder. Patamon was upon his partner's head, and V-mon was in Daisuke's free arm. They appeared in the grass atop the cliff.

Feeling his strength give out in a way he was not accustomed to, Takeru let his legs collapse beneath him and sat down in the tall grass. He shut his eyes for a moment, for the world had seemed to be spinning. A vague, slightly nauseating feeling was growing in his stomach, and he focused his energy on not losing the breakfast he had finished eating only a few minutes before.

"Are you all right?" Daisuke was asking with some concern, but his voice sounded as though it was a very far distance away indeed.

After a moment, Takeru nodded. "Yeah," he said, speaking slowly. "Tired, that's all. I'll be all right." He got to his feet, slowly, and Daisuke offered an arm to help hoist him up.

"Well," V-mon said, looking around them at the grass and sky, which was all that there appeared to be. "Now what?"

"This is Westernmost Point, right?" Patamon questioned of his partner.

"I hope so," Takeru replied. "If it's not, I don't know if I have enough energy to take us somewhere else."

There was a long silence. All four turned and faced in different directions, hoping to see something. Patamon took to the sky and flew a short distance upward, hoping to see something. After a moment, he landed on his partner's head once more.

"There's a building to the south," he reported. "I don't know – maybe we should head that way."

Daisuke considered for a moment. "Do you…sense anything?" he asked.

Takeru sighed, took a deep breath, and shut his eyes. Sensing things on purpose had never been his strength. The magic he had studied was healing magic, which, although useful, was not the sort of magic one used to locate things. After a moment, he opened his eyes and shook his head. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I'm not very good at this."

Now it was Daisuke who sighed, and rubbed at his forehead with one hand as though he had a headache. "I never thought I might wish that spell had not been broken," he mumbled quietly. "If it was still there, I'd be able to find her without a problem."

There was silence for a moment, and then Takeru said, "I'm sure we'll find her anyway. He said to be here, and we're here. So Hikari has to be here…somewhere."

"I say that we head for that building you saw," Daisuke said then, attempting to be decisive. "It was that way, right?"

* * *

Distantly, in the space between dreams and the waking world, Hikari could hear shouting. The voices were vaguely recognizable, though she could not identify them. They sounded angry, and, slowly they grew louder and more intense. Though she could not hear words, she could sense the emotions in the voices and wanted, for some reason, to stop the argument.

She struggled with opening her eyes for quite some time and found that they were quite reluctant to do so. When she did, she found that the voices had stopped shouting. Had they been a dream after all?

All she could see was stone bricks and wooden beams – the ceiling of the room she was in. She could hear no voices at all, only the gentle crackling of fire.

She did not feel pain of any kind, only a strong and powerful exhaustion that made even the thought of movement tire her greatly. After gathering her energy for a while, Hikari turned her head to the right and was able to determine that she was still in the circular room.

She was lying upon the table in the center of the room. As yet, the pile of chains she had seen nearby did not bind her in any way. There was only her own exhaustion to prevent her from moving. As there was no one else within the room, she laid still and hoped that, with time, her energy would recover.

There was no way of knowing how long she laid there; how long she had laid there before she heard the door opening nearby. Had she had energy, she might have turned her head to see who came in, but she thought it might be wise to conserve for the moment, and so she did not do so.

A hand pressed against her forehead, gently. The skin of it was cool. Though the touch was gentle, she could sense that there was a strength present within the body. Eyes half opened, she saw that the man with the long, dark hair was standing over her. An expression of concentration was present upon his face.

Hikari thought to ask him further questions, but, considering how the last such attempt had gone, decided against it. He seemed to be no more in the mood for conversation than he had been earlier. For a long moment, he stood there, and, unable to discern what he was doing or why, Hikari let her eyes fall shut again so she might rest more.

"I must ask you," he said then, surprising her with the sound of his voice in the silence. He waited until she had opened her eyes to ask the question.

"Does he love you?"

The question related to absolutely nothing and so was even more surprising than the initial sound of his voice in the silence had been. She simply stared at him for a long moment, as though she did not understand what had been asked.

"If he does," the man went on, apparently not minding that she had not responded, "you have naught to worry about."

* * *

They could see the building now, only a short distance away from where they stood. It was an ancient building that appeared as though it had stood for nearly a thousand years. It was low, only one story, but wide, and built of sturdy stone walls and bricks. There were no windows that could be seen from the outside. It appeared to be uninhabited.

"There?" V-mon questioned, squinting at it. "It looks as though it will collapse any second now."

"Let's hope not!" Patamon replied in alarm.

"It would be the perfect place to hide," Daisuke stated with a shrug.

Takeru, however, was looking around the area with a frown on his face. "I don't remember there being any buildings at Westernmost Point," he stated. "There's a village an hour or two east of the coast, but there aren't supposed to be any buildings or settlements at all along the cliffs."

"Are you sure about that?" Patamon questioned of his partner. "That building looks like it's been there forever."

"Are you sure we're at Westernmost Point?" V-mon put in.

Daisuke hadn't paid any attention whatsoever to the conversation, but had resumed his walk toward the building without waiting for the others to follow him. An instant before he reached it, Takeru felt a strange shiver run up his spine, as though there might be magic nearby.

"Wait!" he said, and then something even stranger happened.

The air seemed to shimmer for a moment, as though Daisuke had walked through a plate of clear glass. As he walked, it looked like he was walking through a wall of water, but when he stopped, alerted by the sound of Takeru's voice, the air shifted and became a more solid wall.

"What's going on?" Daisuke questioned, looking backward. He stretched out a hand toward the almost-invisible barrier, and found that he hit something solid. "Did you make a shield?"

"No," Takeru answered immediately. "I didn't do anything." He reached out his own hand and found that his hand, too, found something solid in the space between them. "This magic was here. Maybe it's to protect the building?"

"That seems likely," Patamon agreed.

It would have been far more useful for Miyako to be there. All present now thought this thought, though none said it aloud. Miyako would likely have noticed the barrier before Daisuke had walked through it, and if not, she would possibly have known how to pass through it.

V-mon tapped upon the barrier with one fist. "Not fair!" he complained. "I should go too!"

"I guess it only wants one person to go in," Takeru said. He was frowning, as though he was expecting something awful to happen, which was quite understandable. "Maybe one person in particular?"

"Well, now that I'm in, I can't get out," Daisuke replied with a similar frown. "So I suppose I'd have to go even if I didn't want to." He turned away from the others now.

"Be careful!" Takeru called after him, which was answered with a backwards wave of the hand. Barely two steps beyond, he slipped through an opening in the ancient-looking wall and vanished into the building.

"I hate to say it," Patamon said in a low voice, "but I have a bad feeling about this."

* * *

Inside the building was very much as Daisuke had expected it to be. He glanced back through the open doorway (there was no door) and saw that the world beyond the invisible barrier was blurry, as though he was looking through a piece of etched glass. He could see shapes where Takeru, Patamon, and V-mon were standing, but he could not see them clearly.

The walls were old and covered with an ancient sort of rock dust. The floor was made entirely of the same stones. Overhead, a bit of sunlight peeked through the spaces in the ceiling where the wood had been eaten away.

There was no sound but his own footsteps as he walked down the hallway. It was narrow and long, and there were no rooms off of it that he could see.

"Hello?" he called into the silence, and heard his voice echo off the walls and bounce around the corridors for some time before it returned to him. The silence absorbed this sound after a moment, and he was alone once more.

He might have worried that he was not in the right place if not for the magical barrier that had let him pass. That had to be a sign of something strange here. There was not, however, any proof that strangeness related to Hikari in any way.

"Hikari?" he called, and once more his voice bounced about and then vanished into the silence. He hadn't really expected an answer.

There was nothing more to do but continue walking, and so he did. The hallway seemed to curve a bit, and he followed the curve for some time, occasionally pausing to listen for some sign of life, but hearing nothing. Once in a while, a bit of dust would fall from the ceiling, but nothing else moved.

Suddenly, the corridor ended, branching off into three different directions. He peered down each of the new hallways in turn, and saw that each seemed to stretch on for an eternity with no end, and nothing down them.

"Which way do I go?" he asked aloud.

He began to feel impatient, both with himself and the situation. He had expected, after such a dramatic ultimatum, that there might be _something_ here rather than a confusing, ancient maze of a building. While he stood, deliberating over directions and choices, Hikari was…was…who knew what was happening to Hikari.

Sighing in frustration, he chose at random the corridor directly to his left and decided to go along that path. He had only taken two steps in that direction, however, when he was aware that the previously dim area was lit up more than before. He turned away, trying to determine the source of the light, for it was not sunlight poking through the ancient ceiling, but a different sort of illumination altogether.

A small ball of light was hovering near the middle corridor. It was small enough that he could have held it in his hand if it had been solid, and it was floating in the air at about the same height as his shoulders.

For a moment, Daisuke only stared, uncomprehendingly, at the light, and then he understood. He had seen Hikari conjure a similar ball of light, and decided that it must be a sign from her. Almost immediately, however, he wondered if it was some sort of a trap – an illusion. Surely it must not be difficult for a mage or wizard to conjure a floating ball of light.

"If it is a trap," he said aloud, "then I'll fall in to it. Lead me on."

He didn't expect the ball to answer, and so was surprised when it moved a short distance down the center corridor before it vanished completely, plunging him once more into cool shadows. Still, he decided, it was a sign that he was not only in the right place, but also traveling in the right direction.

At the end of this corridor, which also seemed to be endless for quite some time, there were now two further options, the left and the right. The left turn headed down another long corridor, but directly to the right was a heavy, ancient wooden door. It was held up by a set of iron hinges that were slightly rusted, and opening it would require turning a large and heavy iron handle.

It was the first door that Daisuke had seen since entering the building, and so he was immediately drawn to it, partly out of curiosity. Certainly if there was a door blocking passage, something beyond the door must be of importance, he reasoned. He turned and glanced down the corridor to the right and then decided that he would at least look beyond the door.

The handle was more than slightly rusted, and bits of it flaked off as he gripped hold of it. Turning it required quite a bit of effort, and took a bit of time, but then, with a loud, deafening squeak, the door swung open into the room.

The space beyond was an empty, circle-shaped room with a high ceiling. There were no windows within, but a fireplace set into the wall somewhere to the left of the door provided warmth and a bit of light. The rest of the light was provided by a multitude of candles which surrounded the room along the wall, each one set only a short distance away from the one beside it.

In the center of the room was a stone table, and upon it lay a figure, dressed entirely in white. A conglomeration of metal chains which were likely as old if not older than the hinges upon the door covered the figure, ensuring that movement was not likely to be easy, if at all possible.

For a moment, Daisuke stood in the doorway, taking in the room, and then his eyes reached the center of the room and the table there. He was aware of the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears, sounding so loud that he could hear nothing more than that. His feet seemed uninterested in moving, perhaps even incapable.

He took a step forward, and then another.

The figure became clearer in his vision, and then his eyes, which had been focusing on nothing more, saw a bit of movement, a twitching of a finger. She was not dead.

The air he had been holding in escaped from his lungs. He took another step forward and then reached the edge of the table.

Hikari was dressed entirely in white – completely unlike anything he had ever seen her wear, but a strange garment that appeared to be a dozen or so hastily stitched together rags. The chains appeared to be connected to the table and to her body in no manner that seemed to make sense, though it was undoubtedly effective. A thin, almost transparent material lay atop both her and the chains.

He pulled aside this fabric and studied her with clearer eyesight. It did not appear that she had been injured – there was no blood to be seen, and her limbs did not protrude out at any odd angles. She appeared pale and weak, but he could see no physical injuries. Blood would have been very visible upon white clothing.

She was breathing, she was definitely breathing, definitely alive. A wave of relief washed over Daisuke with such intensity that he let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in.

All was not well, however, for she was still bound in those chains, and she was not awake. It could only be that she was tired, but that could also be a sign of a more serious injury. Either way, it was necessary that he take her from this place, but how would it be possible?

As trying was better than not trying, and doing better than thinking, Daisuke knelt down beside the table and located a spot that the chains were connected to the stone. A metal loop had been driven into the stone, and the links of metal threaded through the loop. He followed the length of it around for some time before coming to the conclusion that there was neither an end nor a beginning to it.

"How am I supposed to…?" he questioned aloud, and sighed heavily in frustration. "I'm sorry," he said to Hikari, for his eyes had unwittingly strayed back to her face. "I don't know how I'm supposed to get you out of here."

She didn't answer, didn't move. He hadn't really been expecting her to, didn't really know if she had heard anything he'd said. Once more he sighed in frustration, and now he reached out and placed one hand over hers.

Distantly, there was a rumbling sound, and then something small tapped Daisuke on the top of the head. He looked up in confusion, but saw only the ceiling.

The rumbling grew louder, so that he began to wonder what was causing it. Something else, slightly larger, tapped him once more on the head, and then he saw that bits of plaster had fallen from the ceiling. The flames of the candles were flickering; those in the fireplace leaping wildly.

"An earthquake?" Daisuke said, looking around him.

He could feel the floor moving beneath him now, could see the ancient stone walls shaking and wobbling. He looked upward once more and saw that the wooden beam directly above him was shaking violently now, as though it might fall at any moment.

Once more he looked toward Hikari, but she still appeared to be sleeping, and he still had no way of detangling the chains that bound her. The shaking seemed to grow more violent with every second. Acting instinctively, Daisuke leaned over the table, trying to put himself between Hikari and the debris that was likely to fall from the ceiling.


	4. Questions

**The Ancient Curse**

**Part Four:** Questions

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:**_ Digimon_, all related characters, money, etc, does not belong to me. Plot, however, does, however pathetic it may be. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Hope you enjoy. Feel free to comment or email.

* * *

The sun was shining brightly, with nary a cloud in the bright blue sky. In the center of Yagami, sheltered in the valley beside the palace, the capital city was a bustling hub of shoppers and merchants doing business.

It was midday, shortly past noon, and the warm spring weather had inspired many to leave their homes and head out to do some shopping. Merchants, taking advantage as well, had obligingly headed out to do some selling. With the snow now melting away from the roads, traders were able to travel from different parts of the kingdom, and now goods were available once more. Fresh fish came from the oceans, meats from the north. It would be a few more weeks before fresh vegetables of any kind were available, but there was still fresh food to be had, which was a welcome relief after a long, cold winter of dried things.

Mimi loved shopping of any kind, and had taken the opportunity of the weather to do what many others were doing. She and Palmon were wandering through the streets together, peering over the fabrics and jewels brought in from outside places. Ordinarily, she might have been at work, thinking much about spring wardrobes and what fabrics needed to be bought, but today she was strolling along at a much more leisurely pace, her thoughts elsewhere.

"There's no point in worrying about it," Palmon said suddenly, apparently motivated by nothing but the thoughts in her own head. "If it's happened, then I'm sure you'll know soon enough."

Mimi said nothing to this for a moment, for she was distracted by a bit of pink fabric at a nearby store. "I'm not _worrying_ about it, exactly," she said, "I'm simply concerned that if they wait until the last minute, then there won't be time to plan things."

"I am sure that it won't be quite _that_ spontaneous," her partner replied sensibly. "It isn't as if it's going to be spur-of-the-moment and secret, you know."

"I know," came the answer. "I suppose I should confess that I don't like to be out of the loop. That's probably most of it."

"No one's in the loop!" Palmon reminded her. "Even Taichi doesn't know for sure, and Sora's only guessing. You don't know any less than anyone else does."

Unsurprisingly, this didn't do much to reassure Mimi, who went on frowning as she had been before. They had entered into the part of the marketplace in which fresh fish were for sale, and though quite a bit of them did look appetizing, Mimi quickened her pace so that she would not soon smell like seafood. They turned to the right, heading toward another section of the town.

"I don't understand why there has to be all this secrecy anyway," Mimi muttered quietly, half to herself. "What would be the harm in telling everyone?"

"I don't know," Palmon answered with a shrug. "I'd certainly want to tell everyone if I was…."

"If you were…?" Mimi echoed, for her partner had broken off mid-sentence, and for no apparent reason. They were walking down a rather deserted section of road. There were neither stores nor people nearby, and so it was not clear what had stolen the plant digimon's attention.

"I thought I saw something over there," Palmon said, pointing upward, toward the top of a nearby building. "It looked like a person."

"What would a person be doing on top of a building?" Mimi wondered, looking upward as well. "Are you sure it couldn't have been something else?"

"No, it was a person," her partner replied, shaking her head emphatically. "I guess it's not that unusual for people to be on the roof of a building if they live there, but…," and she glanced toward the door of the building in question, "that's a bank."

For a moment both stood silent, heads tilted upward. "I suppose," Mimi said, rather reluctantly, "that we ought to go up there and see what's going on."

Palmon glanced briefly toward her partner, and then pointed toward the top of the building with both hands. Her vine-like fingers stretched to longer vines, and then even longer vines, until the ends of them were firmly attached to the end of the building.

"Are you ready?" she questioned. Mimi nodded, still without much enthusiasm, and grabbed hold of her partner. Within a moment's time, they were atop the building where Palmon had seen the stranger.

There was indeed a man there. He was dressed entirely in black, with a black, wide brimmed hat atop his head and a black cape attached to his shoulders. Though the brim of his hat shielded his eyes both from the sun as well as onlookers, he clearly saw them, and then, before either Mimi or Palmon could say a word, he was gone, vanishing over the side of the building.

"What on earth?" Mimi questioned, and Palmon hurried across the space to peer over the side of the building.

"He's gone," she reported, disappointed.

* * *

The rumbling halted after a few moments and, although there were bits of wood and stone on the floor surrounding them, Daisuke and Hikari were miraculously untouched. When he was certain that nothing further was going to happen, at least for the moment, Daisuke straightened himself and looked around at the once empty room.

It would be impossible for him to take more than a step or two in any direction without having to maneuver around something that had fallen from the ceiling. A few of the candles had fallen over, but had luckily extinguished themselves rather than starting a larger fire.

"Well," he said, partly to himself and partly to Hikari, in case it was possible that she could hear or understand anything he was saying. "That was lucky."

It was undoubtedly a good idea to try to get out of the building as soon as possible, for it seemed that it was likely to collapse very soon. Exactly how he was going to accomplish that, Daisuke did not know, however, because he had no way of breaking the chains or disentangling them. Once more he now crouched down beside the stone table to examine the way in which they were attached.

He saw now that the metal loop which was connected to the stone table had been screwed in, and that the hole into which it was driven was slightly larger than the metal piece itself. Feeling relieved (though at the same time surprised that he had not noticed this before), Daisuke grabbed hold of the loop and twisted and pulled until he managed to free it from the stone table.

It still was not clear to him how it was going to be possible to remove the chains the rest of the way. As he was thinking about this, a few small bits of stone fell from the ceiling above him.

"I say we get out of here first," he said, noticing that a rather large hole had appeared in the ceiling directly above his head. "Maybe Takeru will have some idea about how to help."

The rumbling sound began again, and so he now moved quickly, adjusting chains and fabrics and then taking Hikari in his arms. She was lighter than he expected her to be, even with the weight of the chains added to it. It was therefore without much difficulty that he carried her across the room, even having to maneuver around rocks and debris and felled candles. The ground began to shake as he reached the doorway, and he stopped in the middle of it, waiting for the quake to pass before he moved on.

He had only taken two steps into the hallway when he heard a loud crash behind him. Turning back, he saw that the beam that had been directly over head had fallen from the ceiling. It had landed on the stone table where Hikari had been, and had broken in half upon impact with the stone.

"See?" he said, trying to calm himself. "That was a good idea."

There was still quite some distance of hallways to travel through, however, and these, too, had obviously felt the effects of the earthquakes. Parts of the walls had fallen down into the hall, and large patches of sunlight appeared on the floor, having poked through gaps in the ceiling.

Daisuke took a deep breath to steady himself and began to walk down the hallway as quickly and as slowly as possible. He walked slowly enough that he would not trip over the rubble, but quickly enough that he hoped he would be able to escape the halls before another quake happened.

When he had reached the space where the hallways had separated, the ground began to quietly rumble beneath his feet once more. Aware of this, he hurried a bit faster for a few steps. If the ceiling decided to cave in, there wouldn't be any place to take shelter in the corridors. After a short distance, he saw that the walls were shaking. He looked upward and saw that a large chunk of ceiling was about to dislodge itself from the roof and crash to the floor.

There wasn't time to think. It wasn't possible to think. After staring at the shaking hunk of stone for a few seconds longer than was probably smart, Daisuke hurried down the hall at an even quicker pace than before. The shaking of the quake increased in intensity, so that the walls around seemed as though they might fall.

There was a rock in his path and his feet unexpectedly stumbled over this tiny obstacle and he lost balance. With the extra weight he carried in his arms, it was not easy to steady himself, and so Daisuke found his legs give way beneath him and his knees collapse. As he hit the floor, the shaking grew even stronger. He pulled Hikari in closer to him and ducked his head lower, once more hoping to shield her from the worst of the damage.

The shaking went on for a few minutes before it subsided. Though he could hear crashing behind him and all around him, Daisuke was surprised to find that he did not feel rocks hitting him as he had expected to.

When the ground was steady beneath him once more, he looked up and saw, for the briefest of seconds, a reflection of light surrounding him that quickly faded. It was a sign that someone had raised a magical shield around him, thus explaining why he was not buried under debris from the walls and roof.

Who had raised a shield? He looked around, half expecting to see Miyako standing a short distance away, to hear her scolding him for having put both himself and Hikari in danger, for having to save him yet again. Yet Miyako was not there; there was no way she could be there. He saw no one else nearby. There was only himself, Hikari, and an empty corridor filled with rubble.

The quiet sound of Hikari taking in a breath caused him to look down. Briefly, he saw that her eyelids flickered, as though she were attempting to awaken, but then they were still once more.

"You'll exhaust yourself if you do that too much," he said then. She didn't respond, didn't move again, and he wondered if he had imagined the entire incident.

Daisuke got to his feet once more, lifting Hikari in his arms again. Almost as soon as he had risen, he felt a quiet vibration beneath his feet, and so wasted no time in continuing on toward the exit. He was not eager to test the limits of magical shields against falling ceilings.

He was within sight of the exit now, and the quaking was growing stronger and more violent than ever before. Once more hurrying (though this time being careful not to trip) Daisuke made it safely to the exit and slipped through the doorway before another large piece of the ceiling flattened the corridor.

Scarcely two steps away from the exit, another loud crash caused him to look backward, but his view was nearly completely obscured by a humongous cloud of dust that rose from the ground. For a few moments, nothing could be heard but the sound of the collapsing building, and nothing could be seen but the dust cloud. Feeling as though it would be wise to get as far away from the building as possible, Daisuke continued walking toward where he had left Takeru.

He had forgotten about the barrier until this moment, and had forgotten completely about Tailmon until he looked back and saw that the building which had once stood there was no longer present. For a moment, his mind froze – had the feline digimon been killed? Was she in another room, down another corridor? Had he left too soon?

Before he could effectively process or act upon any of these thoughts, a voice he had never heard before said, "You were lucky."

He turned sharply at the sound and saw that a man was standing a short distance away. His hair, black and shiny, was pulled into a long braid that trailed behind his head and was tied with a red ribbon at the nape of his neck. He was dressed all in black but for a long white coat which was tied around his waist with a black belt. Over his shoulder, Daisuke could see the hilt of a sword which was strapped to his back.

"You did this?" he questioned, almost immediately feeling the beginnings of a powerful rage rising within him. "Why?"

The man smiled lightly, a playful smirk. He held out his right hand, which held a small red crystal attached to a long black cord. It glinted in the sunlight, and then glowed intensely for a brief moment.

Beneath the space where the crystal hung, the dust rose higher, swirling like a mini cyclone. After a moment, it abruptly vanished and the dust faded into the air. In the space where the dust had been lay a single white feline digimon, sleeping peacefully as her partner was.

"I wish her majesty no undeserved harm," said the man, and then he was gone, vanishing into nothingness as quickly as he had appeared.

There was a long silence for a moment. Daisuke stared at the space where the man had been, feeling his anger seethe beneath the surface. At the same time, he felt confusion and fear twist in his stomach. Who was that man? What did he mean by what he had said? Undeserved harm?

Before he could think any further on the subject, nor tread down the path which his thoughts would have taken him next, Daisuke heard a familiar voice behind him call out his name. He turned to see that Takeru, Patamon, and V-mon were heading toward him. Apparently, the barrier had fallen.

"Is she all right?" Takeru questioned when they'd come within speaking distance. He was out of breath; they'd run across the space between the barrier and the place where the building had once been. Noting that the building was no longer there, he added, "Are _you_ all right?"

"I'm fine," Daisuke replied dismissively. "I don't know if she is. I think she might have raised a shield, which would suggest that, but she hasn't woken up either." He knelt down on the ground and set her down in front of him.

To all eyes present, Hikari appeared to be sleeping. There was, as Daisuke had observed earlier, no sign of blood or any other injury. She was breathing steadily. She was a bit pale, but otherwise appeared to be fine.

"It could be something magical," Takeru replied, kneeling down beside her. "In fact, if it's anything, it probably is. If that's the case, I don't think I'm going to be much help."

"Do whatever you can," Daisuke answered. His previous anger had abated, now slowly being replaced a sense of frustration, worry, and self-blame. He got to his feet and glanced toward Tailmon, who appeared to be in a similar state as her partner. V-mon and Patamon were looking over her.

"I don't know what's happened," V-mon stated, his voice barely hiding the emotions in his voice. "She's not hurt, but…she's not waking up either."

"Whatever's happened, it's probably not good," Patamon agreed.

Feeling suddenly tired, Daisuke sat down in the grass. "Now what?" he questioned.

* * *

The sun was slowly sinking in the west, and the palace was casting a long shadow over the path which led to its entrance. Mimi, walking up that path, carried a small cloth bag in one hand containing a few small purchases that she had made in the marketplace. Her mind, however, was not upon her shopping, but upon the stranger she had encountered in the town.

Some distant memory was tugging at the back of her mind, wanting to be recognized, but it was a distant memory and so not particularly clear. Something about the stranger upon the roof had sparked that distant memory to rise closer to the surface, but she could not determine what.

"I know we've never seen him before," she mumbled quietly, aware that she had been partly discussing this for the last few hours since it had happened. "I still feel like I should know him, though."

"How would you know him?" Palmon questioned sensibly. "You didn't even clearly see who he was."

"I don't know," she answered. "I don't know."

The guards were in the process of changing shifts as she neared the eastern gates. One of them recognized Mimi immediately and nodded at her. Barely noticing this, she passed through the tall iron gates into the courtyard beyond and then crossed the small gardens within.

As this was not the main entrance, the gardens were not as ornate as they were in the front, and the doorway through which she passed was not so tall and grand as it might be. The smell of sweet flowers still hung heavy in the air, welcoming spring after a long, cold winter.

"Do you suppose," Mimi said when she had entered the building and was a few steps down a long, tall corridor, "that Yamato might have some idea what I'm talking about?"

Palmon stared at her partner for a few moments. "I'm not sure that _you_ have any idea what you're talking about," she replied dryly, "but you could ask him."

Mimi frowned indignantly at her partner for a moment. They turned right and began heading up a wide marble staircase. "I believe I will," she replied. "I'm sure he will have some idea of what I'm remembering."

"I wish you the best of luck with that attempt," Palmon answered with a shrug.

Snorting huffily, Mimi made the first left at the top of the stairs and made her way immediately to the room that Yamato called his sleeping quarters without stopping to set down her bag in her own room. She tapped a few times upon the door in a hurried manner and then waited impatiently for him to answer.

He did, after a moment, buttoning the top button of his shirt as he opened the door. His hair was still a bit wet, and she suspected he might have recently finished bathing. "Mimi?" he said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to ask you something," she replied, brushing aside pleasantries. "Do you have a moment?"

"A moment," he answered, "and not much more. I have to eat dinner with the ambassador of someplace or other, and if I'm late…."

"Why do you have to eat dinner with an ambassador?" Palmon questioned, ignoring her partner's impatience.

"It seems that someone, I don't know who, made an appointment for this ambassador to have dinner with the King and Queen some, oh, six months ago," Yamato began.

"Before Sora…," Mimi concluded.

"Yes," he replied. "Before she became pregnant and thus unable to attend important dinners with ambassadors." As he spoke, he was running a comb through his hair and examining it in a mirror that was hanging on a nearby wall. "Anyway, the ambassador made plans to be here for dinner, and so he has to have dinner, and, since everyone else was miraculously occupied, it seems it's become my job."

"I see," Mimi said, a gesture of politeness. She really wanted to ask the question she had come to ask, but years of etiquette training forced her to wait.

Turning around, Yamato held both arms out. "How does it look?" he questioned.

"Fine," she replied, "although it's usually customary to wear a jacket."

"I'm getting there," he replied, walking past her through the parlor toward his bedroom. "What did you want to ask me, anyway?"

"I was wondering," she said, speaking loud enough so that he could hear her from the next room, "if you had some recollection of seeing a man, dressed in black, with a wide-brimmed hat."

"A what?" he questioned, voice sounding distant since he was digging through his closet for an appropriate jacket.

"I saw someone in the market today," Mimi elaborated, and quickly told the story of the man atop the roof of the bank. "I keep feeling as though he's familiar to me, but I do not know why."

"Dressed in black, with a wide-brimmed hat?" Yamato repeated, stepping out of his bedroom with a jacket in one hand. "Well, when you describe him that way, no, but when you add on that story, I suppose I'd say it sounds a bit like the Dark Bandit. I don't know what he'd be doing in town on the roof of a bank, though."

"The Dark Bandit!" Mimi exclaimed, elated. "That's precisely it!"

"No one's seen the Dark Bandit in years," Palmon stated. "Not since Taichi became King."

"Not true," Mimi replied, her memory having returned to her completely now. "Sora saw him in Takenouchi-Inoue when it was attacked by Mummymon and his army, remember?"

"And that was the last of him?" Palmon questioned.

"To be completely honest," Yamato replied, adjusting the sleeves of his jacket, "I don't know that anyone's kept track of him as closely as might have once been done. If you want to know what the Dark Bandit is doing in town, I'd guess your best bet would be to ask Daisuke."

"That would be a good idea," Mimi replied dryly, "if he wasn't two weeks away in the north."

"Possibly the furthest away you can get without leaving the kingdom," Palmon added.

"True," Yamato agreed, shrugging. "It's worth investigating it if he's reappeared, though. It's possible that Daisuke doesn't have any clue what he's doing nowadays, especially since he's so far away."


	5. Visitors

**The Ancient Curse**

**Part Five:** Visitors

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie: **_Digimon_, all related characters and moneys, does not belong to me. Plot, however, does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

* * *

The sun was rising over the plains, casting the first rays of light upon the grass, turning it to a bright green and painting the colors over the sea beyond. The sky was clear with only a few puffy clouds. The day promised to be beautifully warm and pleasant.

A fire had been built, but it was down to only embers now, as those who had made it had fallen to sleep and not kept it burning. Three humans and their three partner digimon had fallen to sleep around the fire, forming a semi circle. It had originally been planned that at least one of them would stay awake and watch the fire, but that had not happened.

Takeru was still tired, more tired than he wished to admit, from having transported himself, his partner, Daisuke, and V-mon halfway across the kingdom in an instant. He had begun to feel his eyes droop and fall closed even before the sun had set, and had not lasted much longer. Daisuke had stayed awake far longer, not wanting to sleep at all, but had eventually succumbed to his own fatigue.

Hikari had not yet awakened at all.

It was mid-morning before Takeru forced his still exhausted eyes open. He very much would have liked to have stayed asleep for a few hours longer, but there was much to be done. They couldn't stay out on the plains another day, and so they would have to devise some way of getting Hikari to a permanent shelter.

Daisuke was awake, but not looking particularly energetic. Though a quick inspection had showed no serious injuries, Hikari had not shown any signs of life since being carried from the now demolished building. He had sat up half the night waiting for something to happen, though nothing had. Upon waking, he had once more resumed his seat beside her, frowning intently in her direction as though this act might convince her to wake up.

"No change?" Takeru questioned, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, which were very reluctant to open this morning.

Daisuke shook his head. "No. Nothing," he answered. "There has to be some sort of magic at work, right? There's nothing wrong with her."

"That," Takeru began and then interrupted himself with a yawn, "would be a logical conclusion." He rubbed his eyes even more vigorously than before and crawled forward. Then he placed his palm upon Hikari's forehead and shut his eyes.

For a few moments there was silence. Takeru sat still and summoned a bit of his magic, focusing his powers of perception. He allowed the magic to flow from the ends of his fingertips and into Hikari, seeking out something else which might block the flow of power. He shut his eyes and scrunched his face up in an expression of concentration.

"There is magic," he mumbled after a bit of time had passed. "I can feel something…but I don't know what it is, or what it's supposed to do."

"Is it dark?"

"I don't think so," came the answer. "It doesn't feel particularly…evil…or anything like that. It simply feels like magic that isn't mine."

Daisuke sighed and rested his chin upon his knees. "That tells us nothing that we didn't already guess," he concluded. "Who's behind this? What was the point of it? What's the magic supposed to do, and how do we get rid of it?"

Having finished his task, Takeru yawned once more. "I don't know," he answered all the questions at once. "I suppose we'll have to wait for Miyako."

"It'll be another day, at least," Patamon reminded him from where he had been sleeping. He had opened his eyes briefly when his partner had risen, but had not otherwise moved. Takeru had assumed he'd still been sleeping, but apparently the digimon had been awake enough to pay attention to what was going on.

V-mon had been sleeping beside Tailmon, who, like her partner, showed no sign of injury nor interest in waking up. He sat up now, yawning and blinking in the bright sunlight. "Is there breakfast?" he asked.

"Yeah," Daisuke answered, "in the bag." He gestured with one arm toward a bag of supplies they had carried with them, but made no effort to begin to prepare any of it.

Takeru laid back in the grass and shut his eyes again. "I know I slept," he said, "but I'm still so tired."

"You used too much magic," Patamon stated. "Remember when Miyako cast that shield spell for the first time? She slept for about two days afterward."

"Yeah," his partner agreed, and yawned once more. "I don't have the time to sleep for two days, though."

"You don't even have a bed to sleep in," V-mon pointed out. He had gotten up and begun rummaging for food in the bag.

"Miyako didn't either, if I remember right," Takeru replied, raising one hand from the ground.

"No, but she had a cot," Daisuke recalled. "You don't have a blanket or a pillow or anything."

"I can sleep fine on the ground," he assured him. "I slept fine all night and longer. I could fall asleep right now."

"Maybe you should," the other suggested. "It's not as though we can go anywhere."

Takeru lifted his head, propping himself up on his elbows so he could see above the grass. "You want to stay here all day?"

Daisuke shrugged. "I can't carry her forever, and neither can you. You can barely keep yourself awake. We don't have a cart or anything with wheels, either."

"I could evolve," V-mon suggested, head half buried within the bag. Locating a bit of fresh fruit, he emerged once more, two bites already swallowed.

"Yeah," Daisuke replied, "but you can't carry Takeru, and he wouldn't be able to walk all day, either. It's at least a few hours walk to get anywhere, and I don't think we'd make it."

Takeru frowned in thought a few moments, but had no real objection to this logic, and so he laid back down once more. A few white puffy clouds floated by in the sky overhead. The sun slowly climbed higher.

"Someone's coming," Patamon said then. "I hear wheels."

V-mon, having downed a fruit and a half by now, turned his head in the same direction as Patamon. Takeru sat up once more, again rubbing one eye with his hand. Daisuke turned his head as well, and then got to his feet to peer across the plains in the indicated direction.

Distantly, so distantly that it was difficult to clearly see, a carriage was traveling along the seaside road, pulled by two Monochromon. It was not traveling leisurely, but hurrying along as quickly as it is possible for Monochromon to hurry (which is not ordinarily very quickly at all).

"See them?" Takeru asked, interrupting himself with a yawn. He didn't want to have to get up if he didn't have to.

"Yeah," Daisuke replied. "Coming pretty fast, too. I'm guessing they're not vacationers."

"It's a bit early for that," Patamon put in. "Do you suppose they could give us a lift somewhere?"

"Maybe," he answered hesitantly. "They are coming this way."

Takeru pulled himself to his feet, stretching a bit to try to wake himself fully. He squinted into the distance, shielding his eyes with one hand. "I wonder…," he said.

* * *

The palace corridors these days were a crowded place. The arrival of spring brought many young lords and ladies to the palace, where they might socialize with other young people. It also brought along their parents, who not only chaperoned these activities and helped to organize them, but also did some official business with their own peers.

Although Mimi ordinarily enjoyed this time of year, for there were many parties to attend and old friends to meet up with, she was at this moment rather frustrated with the fact that it took several minutes to travel a relatively short distance. Not only did she have squeeze past crowds of people, but she was also frequently stopped by several people who had not seen her in some time and wished to say hello. This would not have typically been a problem, but at the moment there was only one person that she wanted to see, and it was rather difficult to get to her.

After nearly a half-hour of pleasantries and polite conversation in the hallway, Mimi managed to slip away from the crowds and detour through a less-used area of the palace. She traveled up a flight of stairs and around a few corners until she reached a much quieter section of the building.

She tapped quietly on the door before she pushed it open, and then entered into a cozy parlor. The far wall was home to several tall windows, several of which were opened slightly to allow the warm spring breeze into the room. They were flanked by lacy white curtains, which fluttered gently in the wind. In front of the windows was a long, comfortable window seat covered with soft cushions and pillows.

Sora, by now several months pregnant and thus significantly larger than she had once been, was lounging upon this window seat, looking out at the gardens below. On the seat beside her was a rather large pile of papers, and one of those papers was in her hand, apparently in the middle of being read. Hearing the door open, she turned her head away from the paper in time to see Mimi enter the room.

"There you are," she said, "I was beginning to think you weren't coming by today."

"So was I," Mimi admitted. "There have to be a hundred people in the corridors today, and all of them wanted to talk to me. I thought I'd be there an hour."

"Ah," Sora recalled, nodding with a smile. "It's spring, isn't it? I remember this time of year. Suddenly, every young person in the kingdom descends upon the capital."

"It seems as though there are more young people today than there were several years ago," she replied with a slight frown, and sat down upon the window seat. "Even the ones I don't know, know me!"

At this, Sora's smile grew into a wide grin. "Well," she said, "you are rather famous."

Mimi frowned even deeper, but said nothing to this. Instead, she noted the pile of papers on the seat beside her. "What's all this?" she questioned.

"Oh, something to keep me busy," Sora replied. "Nothing of great importance. Correspondence sent in over the last week."

"Correspondence?" Mimi echoed. "From who?"

"Everyone, apparently," she answered. "Someone looked over them and decided that they weren't emergency situations, so they were put into a pile of things to be attended to later. Since I've got nothing to do and everyone else does, I thought I'd go through them and see if there was anything that needed to be done."

"Is there anything of interest?" Mimi questioned. She pulled the top paper off the pile and scanned it quickly. "From Yamashita. The planting is going well, though the rain has been rather scarce so far."

"Not really," Sora said in answer to the question. "Most of them are like that. Weekly reports sent in from the various lords reporting on the state of their land. Nothing dramatic, usually."

"I suppose if there was something of interest, it wouldn't have been put in this pile, would it?"

"No, I don't suppose it would be. I suppose if it was something urgent, it would have been taken care of right away," Sora agreed with a sigh. She held up the paper she had been reading. "Your father reports that the snow is nearly all melted in Tachikawa."

"That's good to hear. Nothing else?"

"There isn't really much else to report, it seems."

Mimi set down the paper from Yamashita and took the next one from the pile. Rather than read it, however, she frowned in thought for a moment. "Sora," she said, "is there…have there been any reports concerning the Dark Bandit?"

Sora looked up from the pile of papers with an expression of surprise. "The Dark Bandit? Not in several years," she replied. "I have begun to think he's retired."

"Retired?" Mimi echoed, and frowned.

"Well, he can't go on being the Dark Bandit forever, whoever he is," she went on sensibly. "He's got to be someone else outside of that, and if he is, then he's got to have more time for that, doesn't he?"

"I suppose that's true," Mimi agreed, her frown lessening somewhat.

"What brings this up?"

"Well, I think I might have seen him yesterday, though I'm not sure."

* * *

The carriage had, surprisingly, driven directly toward them, and then halted a short distance away. Takeru and Daisuke stood, watching it until it had stopped right in front of them. They exchanged glances briefly, and then were surprised to see that the driver himself climbed down from his perch atop the carriage.

He peered around them to see Hikari, who was lying upon the ground a short distance behind them, and then squinted toward the digimon, who were peering up at him with wide eyes. His own Plotmon was observing the scene from atop the carriage.

Takeru opened his mouth, but before he could speak, the driver did. "You," he said, pointing toward Daisuke, "are Motomiya?"

"I am," he answered. "Who are you?"

"I work for her majesty," he replied. "I was sent to bring her daughter back."

Once more, Takeru and Daisuke exchanged glances. "Back where?" Takeru ventured to question, and the man pointed southward, along the coast. "To the house by the sea?" he concluded, which was answered with a nod.

"There's a house by the sea?" Daisuke questioned in surprise.

Takeru nodded. "It's where her mother has been staying," he explained. "I don't suppose I need to ask how she knew we were here."

Daisuke took a brief moment to process this information. "Well," he said then. "I'm coming along, too."

The driver nodded, apparently unsurprised by this statement. "I should hope so," he answered. "She wants to see you."

* * *

Evening settled quietly over the kingdom of Yagami. The sun sank in the west, over the vast ocean. The last bits of orangey light touched the waves, and then the coastline, then the plains of the coast, and slowly inward, through forests and over mountains, until it reached the eastern border. It was followed by the blue of dusk, and then the darkness of the night.

About a day's journey south of the capital, less than a day's journey from the eastern border, night fell upon the section of land with the name Motomiya. The villagers settled in for the evening, save for those who made their living in the night. All slowly became quiet and soon the sound of chirping insects was all that could be heard.

Not far from the village, a gentle rise of land came up from the ground. A road meandered along until it had reached the top of this small plateau, and then halted at the entrance to the large house. A short distance beyond it were the fields of tea leaves, which were at this moment in time only half-planted. The workers had gone home for the night. Quiet sank over the fields.

When the sun had vanished and the moon had appeared from between the clouds to shine upon the forest, creatures within it began to awaken. Villagers near the trees could hear the strange sounds in the night, but most did not hear them, so involved were they in their own concerns. Those that did tried their best to ignore them and return to sleep.

Across the river that separated the village from the forest came the creatures of the night. They muttered quietly to themselves in low, gruff voices filled with anger and discontent. They splashed through the water and disturbed the fish within. When they reached the other side, they began a spree of destruction.

In the night, it was difficult to see what was causing it, or what was happening. Small trees fell down, crushed beneath the weight of some larger attacker. Large spots of grass were flattened in the shape of footprints.


	6. Assistance

**The Ancient Curse  
**

Part Six: **Assistance**

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all related characters and money, does not belong to me. Plot, however, does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

* * *

Evening was becoming night. The sun had sunk beneath the waves of the ocean, and the colors of the sunset had faded into the dark blue of dusk. The carriage halted at the bottom of the steps leading to a large house at the edge of the sea. In the distance, the sound of the waves crashing up onto shore could clearly be heard.

Takeru pushed open the door and climbed down from the carriage. Several men were standing nearby, holding up lanterns so that it was possible to see in the dim light. Stepping back from the entrance, Takeru held the door open and watched as Daisuke climbed slowly down from the carriage, carrying Hikari in his arms.

In the dim light, she looked pale and weak, perhaps weaker than she had the day before. It might have only been due to the lighting, or it might have been that she had actually grown weaker. Takeru considered this matter only briefly before he pushed it out of his mind. Patamon set himself down upon his partner's head, and V-mon solemnly climbed down after his partner. When the entrance was clear of traffic, Takeru reached back inside and took Tailmon from the seat where she was sleeping.

Not a word was spoken by the lantern holding servants. Two of them stood on either side of the steps, holding up their lights so that the visitors could easily navigate up the stairs in the dark. One walked in front of them, holding the light for them to follow, and the fourth followed behind the small procession.

They passed through the doorway and into a large, open foyer. Takeru noticed that Daisuke glanced upward toward the ceiling, in which a large chandelier was suspended. Beyond, a wide staircase led to the second floor. The man who had been leading them held his lantern high and gestured for them to follow him down the corridor which led to the left.

"It's odd," Daisuke said in a low whisper, fearful of breaking the silence in the quiet hallway. "I feel like I've been here."

"That would be because you have," Takeru replied in an equally quiet voice. Before Daisuke could respond to this odd comment, the small procession halted outside a polished wooden door, which their guide now opened for them.

A small but comfortable bedroom lay beyond the door. A large, cozy looking bed was in the center of the room with the headboard up against the right wall. Opposite the bed was a fireplace, in which a blazing flame was already lit. Directly opposite the door was a wide window, out which the vast western plains could be seen. A few chairs were also scattered around the room; some upholstered and some not.

The man with the lantern stepped aside, allowing Daisuke to walk across the room. The covers of the bed had already been turned down, and so he set Hikari down and then pulled the blankets up to cover her.

There was a moment of silence then, and then Takeru set Tailmon down at the foot of the bed. The cat yawned wide without opening her eyes and then curled into a ball and resumed her sleep. For another moment no one said anything, and then the man with the lantern set it down upon the nightstand and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Takeru sat down in the nearest armchair, which was sitting in the space between the bed and the fireplace. He had napped for most of the journey, but he was still rather tired. Daisuke sat down in a chair which was conveniently placed beside the bed, and yawned, for he was rather tired himself.

"When?" he questioned, breaking the silence, "was I here?"

Takeru frowned in thought a moment, trying to determine the correct answer to this question. Before he could reply, however, the door opened once more and another man entered.

He was dressed formally despite the late hour and his obviously exhausted expression. His hair had once been black but was now peppered with bits of gray and white. In his left hand he carried a lantern. "I'm sorry to disturb you, sirs," he said, "but her majesty would like to see you." He focused his eyes most intently upon Daisuke, who sighed.

"Somehow," he said, "I am not surprised." He glanced back toward Hikari, and then toward Takeru. "Will you…?"

"I will not move from this chair," Takeru replied, "until you return." He interrupted himself with a yawn. "Even if that means I sleep here," he added.

"That would not surprise me," Daisuke replied with a slight smile, the first he'd shown in a few days. He got up and turned toward the man with the lantern.

* * *

Hikari's mother had been a formidable woman in her prime, and the progress of years had not diminished this characteristic in the slightest. Her eyes were stern and serious, flashing with a bit of anger and authority which she had not relinquished upon her husband's death, even though she had long ago left the capital.

She was standing beside a tall window, which gave a clear view of the ocean beyond, and the bright moon hovering above it. She was dressed not in nightclothes (which might have been expected due to the late hour) but in a gown of dark blue. Small bits of something sparkly had been sewn into the fabric of the skirt and reflected the moonlight. Hearing the door close behind her, she set down the paper she had been reading and turned toward Daisuke.

Daisuke recognized the look within her eyes, which was one he had seen before and had never been thrilled to see. Choosing to err on the side of caution, he ducked his head and bowed low in the most formal way he could manage without feeling silly. "You wanted to see me, your majesty?" he said, having an odd feeling that this meeting was not going to go very pleasantly.

"I want to know," she stated, stepping away from the window, "who is responsible for this."

"I don't know," he answered immediately. "He didn't give his name, nor did he sign his letter." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the roll of parchment that Takeru had carried to him and handed it to the Queen.

She took a step forward and took it, then unrolled it and read the words over. With each line, her frown grew deeper, her eyes grew narrower. "No idea, have you?" she snapped at the end of it, as though she did not trust his answer.

"No, ma'am," he replied, wondering precisely how it was he was to convince her otherwise if she was determined that he was in some way at fault.

"It seems," she went on, "that the person who wrote this letter knew you in some way." She paused, waiting to see if he might have some answer to this. When he didn't respond, she went on, "It would even seem as though he intended his actions to inconvenience _you_ in some way. Does it not?"

"I suppose," he admitted. "I don't know…."

"It seems to me as if my daughter was kidnapped because someone wished to send you a message," she interrupted sharply. "Does it not?"

"I…," he began hesitantly.

"You disagree?"

"No ma'am," he replied. "I only…I don't know what that message is."

She said nothing for a moment, but turned away from him for a moment to peer out the window. "I am beginning to come to several conclusions," she said then. "I am beginning to think that my brother-in-law is an idiot."

He said nothing to this, for he couldn't think of anything to say.

"I have also come to the conclusion," she went on, turning away from the window now, "that for Hikari to be near you brings only bad things for us all."

"That's unfair!" Daisuke protested. "I wasn't anywhere near her when this happened!"

Her eyes narrowed and flashed with some amount of anger. "You have spent enough time near her for whoever did this to come to the conclusion that she means something to you."

"Which is not an incorrect conclusion," he returned.

"It is a conclusion," she replied, "that caused my daughter to be put in a great deal of danger!"

This was true. He could not disagree with this.

"Therefore," the Queen went on, "for her own safety, I will make certain no one else reaches that conclusion again!"

* * *

Sometime around midmorning, the sound of voices speaking woke Jun from her slumber. She did not ordinarily sleep as late as she had today, but she had stayed up the night before, catching up on some correspondence with friends she had not seen in quite some time. She couldn't clearly determine where the voices came from at first, but when she had come awake enough, she realized that they were coming from outside. Though her room was on the third floor of the house, the window had been left open in to allow the warm night breeze in, and now the sound of voices came in through the opening. She couldn't clearly make out what they were saying, however.

Yawning, Jun sat up in bed and blinked in the bright sunlight, which was streaming in through the open window. Her partner Alraumon had apparently gotten up at the usual time and gone about her normal routine, for she was not in the room. Pushing aside her sleepiness, Jun swung her legs over the side of the bed and began to prepare herself for the day.

Descending the stairs a short while later, she saw that the ordinarily empty entrance hall was filled with people, some of whom were talking rather animatedly about something. Some of them were villagers, and some of those were waving their arms about. One man was wildly shouting something and gesturing as he spoke. The rest of the crowd was made up of people who worked in the house, and a few of those were attempting to calm the crowd of villagers.

"Lady Jun," said one of these, spotting her on the stairs. There was some amount of relief in his voice. "It seems there has been a problem in the village."

"A problem?" she echoed, by this time having reached the bottom. "What sort of problem?"

"My house…!" began a woman a short distance away, but she was immediately interrupted by a man nearby.

"…made such a noise…," he was saying, but then he was interrupted by another woman.

"…woke the babies…," she said, her voice breaking as she spoke.

"…nearly toppled my shed…," went on a different man.

"…almost scared the Monochromon right out of the yard!"

None of these sentences, spoken mostly at the same time, made any sense to Jun. She raised both her hands in the air, took a deep breath, and shouted: "Quiet!"

Stunned into silence, villagers and household staff alike stopped, some of them with their mouths wide open and arms raised in the air, and stared at her. There was complete silence for a few moments, all eyes upon her.

"I cannot understand you if you all speak at the same time," Jun said then. She turned toward the man standing nearest to her, who she happened to know because he worked at the house. "Shingo," she stated. "Tell me what has happened."

Startled, the man straightened himself up to his full height. "Yes, ma'am," he replied. "It…uh…it seems that something came out of the forest last night and, well…caused a bit of damage to the village."

"A bit?" echoed one of the women in the crowd. "It nearly flattened my fence!"

"It knocked over three of my trees!" shouted a man.

"It woke the babies!" cried a woman, obviously rather distressed over this fact.

Jun frowned at the crowd with an expression that suggested she was about to shout once more. Guessing this, they quieted down a bit. "What sort of something?" she questioned.

"It's not clear," Shingo replied diplomatically. "It was the middle of the night, and no one saw clearly…."

"I saw!" called a man. "It was a hideous, gigantic monster, the size of this house!"

"No, it was a stampede of monsters!" another man disagreed. "Monochromon, I'd guess!"

"Bloodthirsty Monochromon!" someone else called.

"There's no such thing," a woman shouted in reply to this. "It was Mammothmon, that's what it was!"

"Aye, at least a hundred of them!"

Jun sighed. "If a hundred Mammothmon had stampeded through the village, there wouldn't be a village to speak of," she stated quietly, only loud enough that those standing near her could clearly make out her words.

"No, I saw it," said the voice of a young woman. "It was Ogremon! They were big, green, ugly things, with clubs the size of a person!"

"No, that's not it at all," a young man standing near her shouted. "It was Tyrannomon, and it was their feet which crushed the fence!"

"It's possible," Alraumon suggested, "that it could have been all of those things."

"That's more reasonable than half these suggestions," Jun agreed. She sighed. "Of course Father has gone off to the fields and Daisuke is heaven only knows where at this moment, so it all becomes my problem, doesn't it?" Once more she sighed. "Well, first thing to do is to send word to the palace, in the hopes that someone there will have the faintest idea what's going on."

"You think they might?" her partner asked.

Jun shrugged. "I don't know. If there really is something coming out of the forest at night and attacking the village, we're definitely not going to be able to fend it off ourselves."

"That's definitely true," Alraumon agreed, casting an eye over the crowd, which was still arguing loudly.

"Then we're going to have to figure out exactly what it is that has attacked the village," Jun went on. "Not to mention why."

"That is a mystery," the digimon agreed.

* * *

A wide shadow passed over the plains and circled a large house near the ocean cliffs. In the glow of the afternoon sun, the shadow became a large bird, which landed a short distance from the entrance to the house.

The breeze blew off the sea, rustling the low spring grasses and the feathers on the wings of Aquilamon. Miyako slid down, followed shortly by Ken and Wormmon. A bright glow surrounded the giant bird and then he was Hawkmon once more.

"This is the place?" Ken questioned, eyes upon the house in front of them.

"Seems to be. I can faintly feel Takeru inside here."

"Faintly?" he echoed.

"There's magic designed to protect the house, of course, which means that I cannot feel his presence very easily," Miyako explained. "I've heard of this place. Hikari came here some time ago. It's where her mother lives."

"If they came here," Hawkmon began, "does this mean that something's wrong?"

"Could be," she admitted hesitantly.

As standing still would get them nowhere, the small group headed toward the door. When they were still a few steps away, however, the door opened and a man stood in the doorway.

He was neither particularly young nor old, but moving more toward old than young, for his dark hair was transitioning toward gray and white. He bowed slightly at the sight of the visitors. "You have come to see the princess?" he questioned.

"We have," Miyako replied. "She's here?"

"She is," he replied. "Come this way." He stepped aside, allowing them to enter the small but grand foyer. The bright afternoon sunlight reflected off the large chandelier overhead and cast small, bright squares of light around the space.

"Can you tell me how she is?" Miyako questioned as they passed through the foyer. "Is she all right?"

"Things are not as they should be," replied the man, turning to the left beyond the entranceway and heading down a corridor. "You shall see shortly for yourself, milady."

He paused beside a door which he now opened, and stepped aside to allow them entrance. Miyako frowned in his direction, for such a response was not what she had been hoping for, and passed through the doorway. Ken peered absently at the ceiling for a moment as though he was trying to see through it, and then followed behind her.

Takeru had been pacing along the far wall; he now stopped and regarded the newcomers with an expression of relief. "Miyako! Glad to see you made it. I don't know what to do."

The door shut quietly. Miyako turned her eyes from Takeru toward the bed, upon which Hikari was lying still, eyes shut. She crossed the space in two steps and placed her hand upon Hikari's forehead.

"What happened?" Ken questioned, and Takeru sighed, sinking into a nearby chair.

"A lot," he replied, and then told the story of everything that had happened since he and Daisuke had left them only two days before.

Miyako, meanwhile, was hard at work at something which none of the others could clearly discern. She was frowning in concentration, only half-listening to Takeru's story. She was evidently using some sort of magic, but for what purpose they couldn't guess.

When Takeru had finished speaking, she pulled back her hand from Hikari's forehead and frowned even more intently than before. She took a step backward and peered over the top of her spectacles, folding her arms across her chest.

"And he hasn't come back yet?" Wormmon questioned of Takeru, who shook his head.

"No, which makes me think that the Queen isn't too happy about any of this. Not that she should be. I'm worried that for some reason she'll blame Daisuke for everything, which isn't fair in the least. If there's anyone that should be blamed, it should be me!"

"No," Ken contradicted, "it should be whoever's responsible for this…whoever it was that took her. Not either of you."

Takeru fell silent, apparently agreeing, and sighed heavily. "Can you help at all?" he asked Miyako, who was still peering intently over the top of her glasses.

The young mage did not move or speak, but shifted her eyes toward Takeru and frowned even more severely than before. "You've studied healing magic," she said after a long moment of silence. "What have you sensed?"

"There's no physical injuries," he replied with a sigh. "I sense magic, but I can't really tell what it's supposed to do or where it's located."

"No injuries…," Miyako echoed absently and turned her eyes back to Hikari. "That's a good sign…."

"Can you tell anything more?" Ken questioned after a moment more of quiet in which she seemed to be lost within her own thoughts.

"I can see magic," she replied, "that seems to be, firstly, in a haze, something like a cloud which surrounds her. I can see that it seems to be concentrated in several places, but that may only be an illusion. I would guess that its intent would be to weaken her, but I can't be certain of that."

"I guessed that, too," Takeru admitted, "but only because she seems to be growing weaker since we found her, and the magic seems to be growing stronger."

"That's not a good sign," Miyako said with a sigh, and sat down in the nearest chair. "I'm not very experienced with breaking spells," she admitted. "I don't know…."

"Don't tell me you can't do anything," Takeru interrupted, getting to his feet and suddenly seeming a bit more energetic. "Don't tell me that!"

"I'm not saying I can't do _anything_," she replied calmly. "I'm only saying that I don't know that I'll be of much help."

Takeru ran a hand through his hair and sat down again, the energy rushing out of him once more. He put his head in his hands. "There's got to be something you can do," he mumbled.

"I will do what I can," Miyako said, attempting to sound consoling. "It's a complex spell, but I'll do what I can to try to unravel it. It will take a long time, though, and I don't know…." She sighed heavily. "I will try."

Takeru lifted his head once more and nodded. After a moment, he got to his feet. "All right," he said. "I will try to find out what has happened to Daisuke."


	7. Complications

**The Ancient Curse**

**Part Seven:** Complications

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all related characters, money, etc, does not belong to me. Plot, however, does. That's the definition of _fanfiction_, I believe. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

* * *

Though he had never intended to take on the responsibility of a clerk of any sort, Yamato had somehow been pulled into the role when Iori had vacated it, and he had not yet been able to find anyone else to fill it. To compound his problems, he was doing such a decent job of it that no one was interested in searching properly for a replacement.

The main function of his job seemed to be to sort through mounds of paperwork. After months of struggling and a bit of long-distance communication with Iori, he had succeeded in developing a workable filing system which he actually understood. He had then taken some time to train those under him to understand this system as well, which had greatly eased the strain.

This morning, he had woken to a small (but likely to grow) stack of papers of correspondence delivered in the middle of the night. A few Piyomon were hanging around the windows, and after he had walked into the room and scanned the top of the pile, a few more had entered with their own messages. Thankfully, none of them were regarding urgent matters, and so he set them aside. Sora had lately taken to looking over these things and he gladly left her to it, for it was a tedious and boring job.

By late morning, he had sorted out the few things which might require urgent replies and set them into a separate pile. There were only a few small things which would be considered important enough. A prison in the north had unfortunately lost one of its more dangerous prisoners. There had been a rash of thefts in a village in the south. A severe thunderstorm had caused damage to a town near the coast. Otherwise, life was calm within the kingdom.

Shortly after noon, having paused in his activities to look over a few personal letters, Yamato heard the sound of quiet tapping at the window beside his chair. A Piyomon was tapping softly upon a pane of glass, unable to enter because the window had been closed. Getting to his feet, Yamato opened the window.

"Rather late in the day, isn't it?" he questioned. "Everyone else was here this morning."

"Sorry," the Piyomon replied, handing over a roll of parchment that it had been carrying. "It's not the usual correspondence, though, something more important."

"Oh?" Yamato asked, suddenly more interested. "Where do you come from?"

"Motomiya," answered the bird digimon. "I was told to tell you that there will probably be another message in a few hours when they know more information. I was also told that it might be a good idea for me to wait for a response, though I know that's not likely if you're busy."

"I'm not busy at the moment," Yamato said, "though that doesn't mean that I won't be in a very short while. What's happened in Motomiya?" He opened the roll of parchment and scanned the words upon it.

* * *

Miyako had spent most of the last few hours attempting to unravel a rather complex spell without much success. The magic had twisted in and around itself into knots and loops which had then wrapped around themselves several times over. Coupled with that was the fact that it constantly seemed to be changing shape and altering itself, so that when it seemed she might be close to untangling one section of magic, another section tangled up even worse than before.

She was interrupted by the sound of the door closing behind her with a rather forceful thud. Pushing aside the problem for the moment (since her mind was turning to mush), Miyako returned her focus to the world around her. She saw that, despite all of her work, Hikari did not seem to be any better or worse than she had been at the start of it all.

"It's a lie, all of it, it has to be," Takeru was saying, and Miyako now saw that he had resumed his pacing across the far wall. "She was the last person to see him, after all."

Ken, who had gone with him to speak to the Queen, said nothing, but was frowning, rubbing at his chin with one hand. His eyes seemed to be focusing upon something no one else could see.

"I'm guessing that you gained no useful information from your visit?" Miyako questioned.

"No information whatsoever!" Takeru replied. "The Queen claims that she has absolutely no idea where he has gone."

"I'm supposing," Hawkmon said, looking up from where he had been napping on a chair beside the window, "that you don't believe that claim."

"Not in the slightest!"

"Ken?" Miyako said. "What do you think has happened?"

"I don't know," he replied, still looking as though he was thinking about something rather intently. "I think the Queen knows something, though I don't know what she knows."

"She probably knows, you know," Takeru said then. "She probably knows about everything."

All eyes turned toward him in thought. "By _everything_," Patamon said, "you mean the engagement?"

"That we've been trying to keep secret…," Hawkmon added dryly.

"Yes, and which, I might add, we seem to have mostly succeeded at," Takeru replied. "Still, I wouldn't be surprised if Hikari's mother knows everything about it."

"It wouldn't be much of a surprise," Ken agreed. "She likely has ways of getting information."

Takeru nodded. "And I'm going to guess that if she does know about it, that she's not happy about it. So perhaps…."

"She's taking this opportunity to act upon her already present dislike of Daisuke to blame him for what's happened?" Miyako questioned. She shook her head. "I don't know that it's that simple, Takeru."

"Maybe not," he admitted, "but it does make sense, doesn't it?"

"I have heard more farfetched ideas," Hawkmon commented with a thoughtful expression.

* * *

"Well," Taichi said, lowering the paper, "that's certainly interesting."

"If by interesting you mean unusual and concerning, then I completely agree," Yamato replied. "A crowd, perhaps, or perhaps only one very large digimon attacks a village at random. The second report," he gestured toward the paper in question, "doesn't list any significant damage, but a lot of minor things."

"A lot of minor things can add up to major things," Taichi remarked, frowning over a different piece of paper. "No idea about who or what might have caused it?"

"It seems the villagers have a thousand and one explanations, each one different from the last. No two villagers agree on anything, and from this report, it seems that they weren't able to gain any insight by inspecting the damage."

"I wonder if there was anyone," Gabumon interrupted, "who would be able to gain anything by looking at a smashed fence."

"Probably not," Yamato conceded. "Someone else is going to have to take a look at the place and see if there's anything to learn."

"Someone also might need to provide a bit of extra security, in case it happens again," Taichi added thoughtfully. "Wouldn't it be helpful if those two people were the same person?" He was looking toward Yamato out of the sides of his eyes.

Yamato raised one skeptical eyebrow. "If I go to Motomiya and inspect broken fences, who will look over your paperwork?" he questioned.

Taichi shrugged absently. "I'm sure someone could manage to fill your shoes," he answered without much concern. "All you do is sort the mail."

"All I do…?" Yamato echoed, somewhat indignantly. "I'll have you know I do a lot more than sort your mail!"

They were standing in parlor with large, open windows, through which sunlight and warm breezes were streaming through. A few comfortable armchairs and couches were scattered around the room. Smiling rather mischievously, Taichi maneuvered around one of the armchairs and turned to look out across the gardens.

"Do you?" he questioned. "Every time I've seen you in the last month you've been buried under a pile of letters. Ah," he said then, "another Piyomon, come to bring more mail."

Yamato had narrowed his eyes in a bit of almost-serious anger when the sight of the Piyomon took his attention away. "Well," he said, "I'm not going take care of it. It seems I have to go to Motomiya and look at broken fences."

"And listen to angry villagers," Taichi added, watching as the bird digimon soared over the gardens and arced toward the palace. "Don't forget that part!"

"The best part, I'm sure," Yamato called over his shoulder, for he was already halfway out the door.

* * *

Twisted ropes of color entwined about themselves, knotted and braided into matted masses of magic. Somewhere, beyond the mess of it all, Miyako could sense Hikari, but she could sense that she was weak, and that she was growing weaker still.

"Miyako," said a voice quietly, but she pushed the sound of it aside and focused upon the nearest thread.

There had to be a way. Simply follow this strand, and it looped under that strand. That wasn't hard, it simply meant that it was necessary to tug on that thread over there….

"If you keep that up much longer, you'll exhaust yourself," the voice said, interrupting again.

Reluctantly, Miyako pulled herself away from it. The light in the room was a bit dimmer than she recalled, and her vision was becoming blurry. "How long?" she wondered absently.

"About three hours," Ken replied. He was standing beside her, a slightly worried expression on his face. "You're starting to look a bit pale."

"Three hours?" she repeated, and then yawned. "I don't know if I made any progress."

"I'm sure you've accomplished something, no matter how small," he said encouragingly. "Maybe you ought to get some rest now."

She stood up, yawning again, and stretched her arms over her head. "I suppose," she conceded, and glanced back down toward Hikari. "Did anything change?"

"Not that I could tell," Ken answered. "Takeru, however, is…." He nodded toward the window, where Takeru had fallen to sleep in an overstuffed armchair. Though sleeping quarters had been provided for the three of them, Takeru had not bothered to move.

"He's still exhausted, isn't he?" Miyako observed sympathetically.

"As are you," he interrupted before she could continue. "It's time both of you got some rest, as working yourselves to exhaustion would not, I am sure, make the princess very happy."

"Right, right," she replied, frowning in his direction. "I'm going." She took a few steps further toward the door. "Ken," she said then, turning back. "You and Daisuke are…well…."

He nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"Do you feel anything? I mean, about him? If he's all right, if he's nearby?"

He shrugged. "Nothing useful," he replied. "I can tell he's alive, but maybe I'm wrong about that. I don't know what it would feel like if he wasn't, since he's never been dead."

Miyako frowned severely. "Don't say things like that," she scolded, then turned back toward the door. "If you do anything reckless, be careful about it, all right?"

"Reckless?" he repeated. "Certainly not."

"I'm sure," she replied with some sarcasm, and stepped through the doorway. "Good night."

* * *

In the light of early morning, scarcely two hours after sunrise, a carriage arrived at Motomiya, pulled by one rather tired-looking Monochromon and carrying one rather sullen young man. As soon as the vehicle had pulled to a stop, the door swung open and Yamato climbed out, a rather severe frown upon his face.

"That," he muttered crossly, "has to be the slowest Monochromon I have ever seen."

As his arrival was not unexpected (though a few hours late), he was unsurprised to note a few servants running toward him in a hurried fashion. Two of them immediately climbed to the top of the carriage and got to work unloading his luggage, while the third, a young woman, welcomed him.

"Lady Jun is inside, waiting," she explained, gesturing toward the house. "We were expecting your arrival last night. Did something delay you?"

"I was expecting to come last night," Yamato replied, still rather grouchy about the whole affair. "It took a bit longer than might have been expected to travel. Did anything attack last night?"

"We haven't yet been besieged by complaints, milord," the servant replied, "so I suppose that if there was an attack, it was minor."

"Well," he said thoughtfully, "perhaps it was a one-time thing, then."

"We can only hope," said a third voice at that moment, and Yamato looked up. Though they were only a few steps into the house, he saw that Jun had not wasted any further time in waiting for him, and was standing in the entrance hall. Her partner Alraumon stood behind her, peering around her skirts.

"You don't think that's likely?" he questioned.

Jun sighed and shook her head. "I doubt it will be that simple," she stated grimly. "Things rarely are, are they?"

Spoken, Yamato thought, like a woman who had witnessed her share of troubles and complicated matters. As she was Daisuke's sister, he supposed he could see why. "No," he agreed with a shrug. "Sorry I'm late. I was hoping to be here last night in case something attacked. Lucky, I suppose, that nothing did."

"I suppose," Jun said. "I don't know that we should count on luck, however." She stepped aside, gesturing toward the stairway behind her. "Do you want to rest for a while, or do you want to see the village?"

He shook his head. "I've had enough resting for a week," he replied, "on the longest and shortest ride of my life. I'm much more interested in getting to work. Your letter said that you had inspected some of the damage already?"

"I did," she answered, "with help from some of the villagers. We weren't able to determine what had caused any of it."

"I don't know if I'll be any help, either," Yamato admitted, "but I will do my best. I intend to stay until we figure out what's attacked and stopped it from happening again."

She peered at him for a long moment, as though thinking of something or perhaps merely studying his face to decide if he was serious. Then she nodded. "All right then," she said. "Let's go."

* * *

Takeru had at some point or other (he could not clearly recall when) gotten out of the comfortable armchair and made his way to a bedroom a few doors down the hall. He had sunk into bed without bothering to remove more than his shoes, and resumed his sleep until after the sun had risen the next day. When he awoke, he was thus rather surprised to find himself lying in bed.

He sat up immediately, feeling disoriented and confused about his location. Patamon had followed him, for he was lying at the foot of his bed, snoring quietly. Someone had set out a set of fresh clothes and laid them on a chair nearby, and, as he'd been wearing his current outfit for quite some time, he was not opposed to changing.

When he had done so, dressed now in comfortable, well-made pants and shirt that seemed to fit as though they had been designed for him, he pulled his shoes back on and lifted his still-sleeping partner in his arms. Then he left the room and wandered down the hall until he found his destination. It was not difficult, for he was only a short distance away, and he could hear the magic.

He did not realize it until he had stepped into the hallway, but he could hear the magic that had entwined Hikari. As he shut the door to his bedroom behind him, he could hear an odd, ethereal sounding musical sound. It was not singing, exactly, for there were no voices, and he could not identify any instruments used, but there was a strange sound he could not quite identify coming from down the hall. After a few moments, he realized he had been hearing it since he and Daisuke had arrived at Westernmost Point three days before. It had, at the time, been so quiet and distant that he had hardly taken note of it, but now that he thought back, the sound had been always there.

"Hearing magic," he thought aloud, and shook his head. "Is such a thing possible?"

"What do you mean, nothing?" said a voice within the room he was about to enter. It was Miyako speaking, and she sounded rather astonished. "You found nothing?"

"I didn't say that," replied another voice, this one rather more calmer.

"Yet obviously you haven't, because if you had, you would be able to tell me something about what's happened," Miyako returned. "You did look, didn't you?"

"Perhaps," Ken answered, still in the same calm voice, as though he was thinking of something completely different than what Miyako was questioning him about.

"Perhaps?" she echoed, and then suddenly gasped. "You…you found something you don't want to tell me about."

He didn't answer immediately, which led Takeru to believe that her conclusion had been correct. "It's nothing to worry about," Ken said then. "Nothing's happened…."

"Then you did look, and you did find something!" she concluded. "Tell me!"

"I found nothing," he replied.

Eavesdropping on this conversation, Takeru concluded, was not only wrong and sneaky, but also completely useless. He had no idea what they were talking about, and they were speaking so vaguely that he had no hope of being able to determine what it was they had been looking for. He guessed that it was Daisuke, but that couldn't be possible. There were servants and guards all over the place, and if Ken had gone looking for him, he would likely have been spotted almost immediately.

Acting as casual as he could, Takeru pushed open the door without waiting for something else to be discussed, and entered the room as though he was completely unaware he was interrupting a conversation that might soon become an argument.

"Good morning," he said in a voice which was cheerful enough to be pleasant and yet not cheerful enough to suggest that he was insensitive to their current problems. Immediately, he turned his eyes toward Hikari, more to avoid looking at either Miyako or Ken than anything else. "Has anything changed?"

There was a silence that might have stretched on a bit longer than necessary, or might only have been his imagination. "No," Miyako said then, with a sigh. "The spell is a complex mass of magic that will probably take me the rest of my life to unravel." She sat down in an armchair with a sigh and rubbed at her forehead with her fingers.

"That long?" Takeru questioned in surprise. He looked toward Hikari once more, this time actually seeing her, and saw that she was much the same as before. Distantly, he could hear that odd noise once more. He squinted in her direction, as though doing so would help him to hear better, and tilted his head a bit that way as well.

"Perhaps longer," Miyako replied. She leaned back in her chair and glanced upward at the ceiling. "I'm not very good at removing spells, it seems."

Ken had said nothing since Takeru had entered the room, and he continued to say nothing now, appearing as though he was lost in his own thoughts as well. Takeru listened to the silence, and listened to the noise he could hear beneath the silence.

"Miyako," he said after a long time. "Is it possible that…."

He was interrupted when the door opened, and the old man entered once more. He bowed low toward the room in general, and then focused his eyes upon Miyako. "Milady," he said politely. "If you might spare a few moments, her majesty would like a word with you."

"I wouldn't mind a word or two myself," Miyako mumbled quietly, to which Hawkmon gave her a rather stern look. She got to her feet. "If I'm not back in a few hours, you'll come after me, won't you?" she said, glancing toward Ken.

He raised one eyebrow as though he wasn't quite sure whether to take this statement as serious or not. His mouth curved into a smile as he chose amusement, and he bowed his head slightly. "I shall be certain to bring a sword," he replied, and she laughed at this.

"Be careful with it, all right?" she replied with a smile of her own, and then she was gone.

* * *

Hikari could hear the sound of a door closing, and quiet voices conversing. She became slowly aware of the feeling of warm blankets around her, and of a soft pillow beneath her head. She could smell the wood burning in a nearby fireplace.

She opened her eyes and saw a pale blue bit of fabric. For a long moment, she stared at it until it came into focus and she realized that it was a canopy, draped over the top of the bed she was lying in. It seemed to have taken a lot of her energy to do so, and she let her eyes fall shut once more.

After a moment or two of rest, she opened her eyes once more and now aimed them a bit lower than before. There were people in her line of vision now, directly in front of her. Once more she had to peer at them for a long moment before she was able to make out features clearly, and then to realize that she knew them. One was Ken, a thoughtful expression upon his face, as though he was contemplating something quite serious, and the other was Takeru, who was looking a bit more pale and tired than she recalled. He now turned his head toward her, as though he felt her eyes upon him, and then his eyes opened wide.

"Hikari!" he said, his voice obviously filled with relief, and he moved around the bed to come closer. He said a few more words, but Hikari could not clearly make them out.

She moved her eyes around, looking about the room, seeking out other familiar faces. The room was otherwise empty of people, however, and she let her eyes fall shut, noticing as she did so that Takeru's voice began to speak a bit faster now.

'_Not here,'_ she thought, and then returned to sleep.

* * *

Apologies about the lack of updates lately. I went to AnimeNext and had a fantastic time, and then went to the mall the next day and spent too much money. Since then, I have been too lazy/busy/exhausted to update. Sorry! All is back on track now.


	8. Ending?

**The Ancient Curse**

**Part Eight:** Ending?

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all related characters, etc, is not mine. Plot, however, is. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Thank you for reading. Enjoy.

* * *

The fence, Yamato concluded, had definitely been destroyed. There was absolutely no doubt about that. Exactly _what_ had destroyed it would be a much harder question to answer.

It had once been a tall fence, protecting a rather nice-looking though small orchard. It had been painted white, and had been, at one point, as tall as Yamato himself. Now, however, it was lying in pieces on the ground beneath the trees. Some of the pieces were large and mostly whole, suggesting that something had simply pushed the fence over and flattened it, perhaps beneath very large feet. Other pieces, however, had been smashed into tiny pieces, suggesting that something had come through and knocked it over deliberately and rather violently. There were also a few pieces that appeared to have been slightly burnt, indicating that perhaps fire had been involved, and a large pile of tiny shreds, which indicated a completely different attack entirely.

Yamato sighed, rubbed one hand through his hair, and cast his eyes out toward the trees themselves. It was still early spring, and only a few of them had any blossoms upon them. One or two of them had lost branches, and one had been very badly damaged, apparently by something rather large and heavy smashing into its trunk. The cause of this damage was no more apparent than that of the damage to the fence.

"Do you smell anything suspicious?" Alraumon questioned of Gabumon, who was looking outward over the rest of the village with a frown.

He shrugged. "I smell a million different smells," he replied, "of humans and various different digimon that have probably passed through here in the last week." He gestured toward a small group of travelers nearby. "There has been too much interference."

"It has been two days now," Jun recalled. She turned toward Yamato, who was now frowning intently at the damaged orchard as though the trees were being uncooperative. "I don't suppose you've come to any conclusions?"

"Not a single one," he replied, and shifted his gaze eastward. "The only thing clear is that whatever did this came from in there."

Gabumon, Alraumon, and Jun turned their heads almost as one toward the forest across the river. Alraumon shivered slightly. "I'm sure I don't like where this is heading," she stated.

"The best way to figure out what caused the damage is to go into the forest and look for it," Gabumon agreed sensibly. Noting the rather fearful expression on the plant digimon's face, he questioned, "Is there something bad in there?"

"I don't know," Alraumon admitted. "I only know that no one wants to go in there."

"No one?" Yamato asked.

Jun shrugged. "The villagers have long been wary of the forest to the east, and, in general, almost everything to the east," she explained. "I don't have any idea why. I don't think any of them know why either. I only know that I have no need to go in there and so I never have gone in there."

"It doesn't seem like a very terrifying place to me," Yamato stated, studying the trees across the way with some interest. "Looks like a normal forest."

"It probably is," Jun agreed. "It's probably only a silly superstition." She took a few steps toward the forest. "I say we go in and see if there's any sort of clues within."

"Must we?" moaned Alraumon. "I'm not sure it's a safe idea!"

"There's nothing to worry about," her partner replied dismissively. "Everything will be fine, as it's the middle of the day. If there were ghosts about, or Bakemon, they wouldn't appear in broad daylight." She gestured widely with one arm, indicating the general cheerful sunshine of the day.

"Besides," Gabumon added confidently, "we'll go with you."

As half the group was at the edge of the river by now, Alraumon reluctantly followed them. Even so, she twisted her vine-like fingers together as they crossed the small bridge and reached the edge of the forest.

The trees were tall pines and other various leafy things which had not completely regained their leaves yet. The ground was soft but not excessively muddy. Jun lifted up the hem of her skirts and stepped easily over a few large tree roots.

There was no path, which was not surprising given how few people traveled within the forest. For a few moments, Yamato led the way deeper in, pushing aside the occasional tree branch or bush which blocked his way. Pausing at a clearing, he looked around him.

"How about here?" he questioned of his partner. "Do you smell anything here?"

Gabumon turned his head slightly, trying to catch a light breeze, and sniffed inward. Though his sense of smell was not particularly powerful in digimon terms, it was much more powerful and useful than that of a human. He shut his eyes and breathed in the air.

"Ogremon," he replied, frowning slightly and wrinkling his nose. "I smell Ogremon, and a bit of human scent."

"The human part isn't surprising," Jun admitted with a sigh. "It's often been thought that bandits might have used this place for hiding."

"Bandits, or worse," Alraumon said with another fearful shiver. "But Ogremon?"

"I've never heard of Ogremon living around these parts," Jun agreed. "I suppose it's something I ought to ask my father about."

"Well, at least we know what's likely caused the damage," Yamato stated. "Maybe if we look around a bit more we might find some further evidence."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Alraumon questioned, "going looking for trouble?"

"I believe I could handle a few Ogremon," Gabumon stated coolly, apparently slightly insulted by the comment. "If you are worried, you don't have to come along."

"I didn't want to come this far," she reminded him, and glanced up toward her partner. "Please, let's go back."

Jun considered for a few moments. She peered out into the forest, looking at the tree branches and the pine needles. A cool breeze passed by.

"It might be a good idea," Yamato said. "Gabumon and I can go on alone, and be done by sunset. You don't have to come along."

"All right," she said, much to the relief of Alraumon. "I'm sure that I'd be of no use if we did find Ogremon. If they were hostile, I'd only be in the way. If you're not back by nightfall, though, I'm sending someone after you."

* * *

The sun was sinking in the western sky over the vast ocean. Splashes of orange colored the walls and painted the sky over the water.

The air was growing colder. Breezes from the ocean danced over the cliffs and along the plains. A few of them passed through a window in a small room in the upper levels of the house.

The window was as large as one wall of the room, which was not particularly large at all. It was set deep into the stone wall so that a seat was formed which was wide enough for a person to sit upon. It was a tall window made of small bits of metal which formed a grid that would have crisscrossed over a pane of glass had the glass not been broken and discarded long ago.

Upon the other wall of the room was a small bed, barely large enough for a single person. A rather flat pillow was at one end, and a thin blanket was piled up at the other end. In the middle of it lay a small blue digimon. His eyes were shut and his mouth was open, and he was snoring quietly.

Daisuke was sitting beside the window, peering out at the ocean with a frown on his face. The cool breezes rushed in from the outside and ruffled his hair. The setting sun painted his face and arms bright orange. He shut his eyes, feeling sleepy.

When he opened his eyes once more, the sun had vanished, and the sky was now dyed the color of dusk. He had fallen to sleep sitting up, and now his neck and his back were stiff. He got to his feet and stretched a bit, then sat down once more upon the window seat.

In the hall, he could hear footsteps coming closer, and then he heard a key turning in a lock and the door opened.

The room was so small that it was crowded with only one person within it, and when two more entered, it was nearly impossible to move at all. The third man stood outside the doorway, watching.

"Her majesty wishes to see you," he stated.

Daisuke sighed, then shrugged. "Very well," he said. "Lead on."

The man standing beside him on his left (who was backed up against the bed frame) grabbed hold of his left arm. The man on his right (who was standing with his back against the wall) gripped his right wrist. The man on the right produced a bit of rope from somewhere, perhaps his pocket, and wrapped it tightly around his wrists.

"Is this necessary?" Daisuke questioned. Rather than answer, the man pulled the bindings tighter and then knotted it securely. Then, the man on the left shoved him forcefully from the room. He took a few stumbling steps forward, and then found that he could not see, for something had been thrown over his eyes.

"It would be wise," said the third man, "if you didn't make too much of a scene."

Someone pulled at the cloth, and tugged it back over his head so that he could see once more, though barely. One of the men fastened the cloak beneath his chin. The hood of it now blocked only the upper half of his vision; he could still clearly see the floor and everything below eye level.

"Her majesty thinks of me as a prisoner now?" he questioned, tugging at the ropes that bound his wrists without really trying to break them. He lifted his arms.

"I have no idea what her majesty thinks," the man replied. "Nor should you attempt to discover such things."

The door shut behind them, slamming rather loudly in the silence of the night. Behind it, Daisuke could hear V-mon protesting at being left behind.

* * *

Miyako opened her eyes suddenly, abruptly sitting up straight in her chair. She gasped aloud, and blinked for a moment in the dim light. The sun had gone down; there was only candles and firelight now lighting the room.

Takeru leaned forward in his chair. "Did something happen?" he questioned.

Ken, too, was looking in her direction. "Are you all right?"

Miyako shook her head. "No," she said, in answer to Takeru's question. "I'm all right. Something…." She rubbed at her eyes.

"Do you suppose maybe you've been working to hard?" Hawkmon suggested, once more sounding rather motherly.

"Working hard, and yet making no progress," she replied, and stood up. "I haven't managed to untangle anything. Every time I think I'm getting close, it simply twists itself up tighter and tighter. I don't think I can do this."

Ken and Takeru glanced briefly toward each other, then back at Miyako. "That can't be true," Takeru said.

"If you can't untangle the magic…," Ken said, looking toward Hikari with a thoughtful expression, "she'll get weaker?"

"I think so," Miyako answered, "but I don't know. I don't have any idea. I don't know what the magic is supposed to do, I don't know who made it, I don't know how it was made. I don't have any idea how to break it. She needs a mage who…who's better at this than I am."

Once more Takeru and Ken exchanged glances. "How do we find another mage, though?" Ken asked.

"Do we have time?" Takeru questioned. He took a step toward Hikari, and placed one hand upon her forehead once more. "I don't think it's wise to try to move her anywhere. She's weaker now already, and it's only been a few days since…."

Before anything else could be said, the door opened, and the old man entered once more, this time closely followed by Hikari's mother. All conversation immediately halted, and all present turned their eyes toward the newcomers.

"If you would excuse us," the Queen said in quiet voice. She moved her eyes toward Hikari. "I would like a moment alone."

There was a moment of silence. "Of course, your majesty," Miyako said then, quietly. She bowed slightly and slipped past her out of the room. After a moment, Ken and Takeru both followed.

"Do you suppose," Takeru whispered when they were in the hall outside, "that she knows some way to help?"

"I can't think that she does," Miyako replied, "or she would have done something, wouldn't she?"

He considered this momentarily, and followed the others down the hall in silence. As they rounded a corner, he glanced back toward the room they had left, and he saw that four people were approaching the door at that precise moment. One of them was dressed as a servant of the house, two of them were dressed as guardsmen, and the fourth was wearing a long cloak and hood which covered him entirely.

Takeru halted his steps and stared as they opened the door. The man in the cloak (or perhaps it was a woman, there was no way to know for sure) and the one dressed as a servant entered the room, and the two guards took up positions on either side of the door.

"Do you suppose…?" he began, and then saw that there was no one there to speak to. The others, even Patamon, had gone on ahead and rounded the next corner so that Takeru was now quite alone in the hall.

* * *

It was only by sheer luck, Daisuke concluded, that he had not tripped over the hem of the cloak. In the dimly lit halls, with the hood of it half over his eyes, he very nearly stumbled over it several times, only narrowly avoiding falling flat on his face. It had not helped matters to be occasionally jabbed in the back for no apparent reason other than because the guard doing so felt it was an appropriate thing to do.

They traveled down several flights of stairs and around several corners before finally coming to a halt outside a door. It was an unremarkable hallway and an unremarkable door, and so Daisuke was not completely certain of where he was. He turned his head toward the left and the right, but could see little more than walls and floor around him.

The door was opened, and once more one of the guards jabbed him in the back and so he took a few steps and half-tripped into the room.

It was a small room, warmly lit with a multitude of candles and a burning fireplace. Though he couldn't see it all clearly, Daisuke thought it might be the same room he had been in before…the room where he had left Hikari and Takeru.

"I've brought him, as you said, your majesty," said the voice of the man who had led him there.

"I see," she replied, and Daisuke turned his head toward the sound of her voice. He could make out the hem of her skirt a short distance away. "Leave us."

The tone in which she said this did not seem the least bit pleasant. No one else who was in the room said anything, and Daisuke heard quite a few footsteps shuffle past him and out the door, shutting it behind them.

For a long moment, there was silence, with only the crackling of the fire nearby. Daisuke wasn't completely sure if he was supposed to say anything, and couldn't think of anything remotely pleasant to say, so he said nothing, only waited.

"She does not improve," the Queen said then, and her voice sounded sad. "I do not know if she will."

The fire quietly burned more of the wood it had been given. A strong gust of wind off the sea rattled the window panes so that it seemed as though the house itself was shuddering. Daisuke shut his eyes.

"So going after her," he said then, "was pointless?" When she didn't immediately answer, he added slightly louder, "Was it useless?"

"Perhaps," she replied quietly, sounding rather tired. "I do not know."

He thought of a thousand more things he would have liked to have said, to have shouted, perhaps, at the top of his lungs, but he wisely said none of them. Instead, he squeezed his eyes shut tighter and swallowed his words so that a lump formed in his throat.

"I do not see the harm," she went on in the same quiet voice, "in allowing for goodbyes."

He opened his eyes again and was surprised to find that his vision was blurry and his eyelashes momentarily stuck together. He blinked a few times and his sight cleared once more. "You're giving up, then?" he questioned, only barely managing to keep hold of the anger he wanted to release. "That's all? You're not going to search for a mage, for a healer, for someone that can help her?"

"There is no one that can," the Queen replied quietly. She took a few steps forward and, before he was completely aware of what was happening, she had pulled the hood back from his eyes.

He could clearly see that it was not cold anger within her eyes now, but a bit of sadness and perhaps regret. Slowly, his own rage began to melt away a bit.

"No one?" he echoed.

She shook her head. "It may be a long process, and it may be only days…but it is better if we accept the inevitable. The spell that binds her is complex and strong. She doesn't have the strength to fight it on her own. If a mage with the sight cannot clearly see how to unravel it…I have little hopes for someone else."

"A mage with the sight…Miyako can't…?"

Once more she shook her head. "It does not seem so, no." For a moment, she waited, and then she took a step backward. "You must say goodbye."

She stepped aside, clearing the way for both his eyes and his feet. He took the few steps forward and then sank down onto the hard, stiff-backed chair beside the bed. It seemed to be a great effort simply to continue breathing in and out at regular intervals.

Hikari was the same as he recalled – pale and unmoving. She looked as though she was a bit thinner than before, which was unsurprising considering that she had, he supposed, been sleeping for nearly a week straight. He reached forward with his hands, which were still bound tightly, and took hold of her hand.

He felt as though it was important to say something, but he couldn't think of anything to say and wasn't certain if he _could_ say anything. For the moment, his head was spinning, his mind whirling. There seemed to be some sort of buzzing sensation in his ears that wouldn't fade.

"I'm sorry," he managed to say, and sighed, for even this sounded stupid to his own ears. "I'm an idiot."

Tailmon absently flicked her tail in her sleep, as though she might have agreed with this statement if she'd had the energy to do so. Once more, he sighed, and then turned his eyes back toward Hikari.

She had opened her eyes, and was looking at him.

So astonishing was this action that Daisuke once more could think of nothing whatsoever to say, but only stared. Hikari blinked, as though she was now focusing upon him, and then smiled.

"Hikari," he said then, "You – you're awake."

She continued smiling, and now she nodded slightly, but her eyes were already drooping once more. Slowly, they fell shut once more, and then he felt her hand squeezing his own.


	9. The Insanity of Ogremon

**The Ancient Curse**

**Part Nine: **The Insanity of Ogremon

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all related characters, etc, does not belong to me. Plot, however, does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo. Enjoy.

Moo.

* * *

"Fox Fire!" called Garurumon, and blue flames lit up the night.

The Ogremon that had been the target of this attack screamed in pain. He leapt a short distance into the air and then ran a few steps forward, attempting to get out of range.

"Stop!" Yamato called after it. "Come back here!"

The ogre didn't respond, but hurried his steps. Garurumon easily ran a short distance, enough to get within range again, and once more shouted, "Fox Fire!"

This time, the blue flames spread across the forest floor and set fire to the trees in front of the Ogremon. Panicked by the sight of the flames, it took a few steps backward, then turned and once more spotted the sight of the blue and white striped digimon coming closer. It raised its club once more, as though it was hoping that might shield against the fire.

"We're just looking for some answers," Yamato said, noting the fear in the eyes of the ogre, and knowing that fear could make Ogremon dangerous. "Where are the rest of your kind? Did you attack the village?"

"I'll tell nothing!" the Ogremon replied, its voice sounding a bit on the hysterical side. "I don't care what sort of outrageous torture you use, I'll tell nothing! Nothing, do you hear me? Nothing!"

He shouted this last word to the sky and the trees around him, as though there might be someone around listening aside from Yamato and his partner.

"I don't plan to use outrageous torture," Yamato replied, already finding it rather difficult to remain in a state of calm. Blowing his top at an Ogremon would not be a wise idea. "I'm only trying to find out what happened here."

"I'll tell nothing!" the Ogremon shouted once more. "I did nothing! Nothing! I haven't done a thing! I'll say nothing!" He was now looking at the treetops as though he saw something above which was listening to him. "Nothing!"

There was nothing that could be gained from talking to this particular Ogremon, Yamato concluded. He had spent the last few hours tracking it, following it, and tracing it through woods that might possibly be haunted, only to discover that it was most likely insane. Even now it was shouting at the treetops as though pleading with some god of the Ogres for salvation.

"All right already!" Yamato shouted, which had the effect of at least silencing it for a few moments. "Shut up!"

The Ogremon stared at it with wide eyes, saying nothing.

"I wasn't saying that _you_ did anything," Yamato went on, for now that he had vented a bit of his frustration there could be no harm in releasing the rest of it. "I'm only trying to find out what happened in the village. I was only trying to find out if you had any idea what caused it. I don't even know if it was Ogremon or Tyrannomon or something else entirely!"

The Ogremon blinked a few times. "I won't say anything!" it replied in a voice that was only slightly calmer than hysterical.

"Fine then!" Yamato replied, and turned away. "This was a complete waste of time."

"You'll regret this!" the Ogremon shouted after him. "You'll regret bothering me! They'll come after you and they'll make you pay!"

"They?" Yamato echoed, turning back toward the ogre. "They who?"

"The mages!" the Ogremon replied boldly. Feeling brave, it swung its club a few times. "They appear and vanish in the blink of an eye, and they'll vanquish the enemies of Ogremon everywhere!"

"What mages?" Garurumon questioned.

"You'll regret it!" the Ogremon shouted again. "They'll kill you in the blink of an eye, before you even know what happened."

"Teleportation spells?" Garurumon wondered, glancing toward his partner.

"They'd have to be really powerful mages for that," Yamato concluded. "If I remember right, that's not a spell that a single person has enough power for. Maybe he's nuts after all."

"Maybe," Garurumon agreed. The Ogremon was still shouting on about regrets and such.

"Still, I'll bet there's some truth to what he says," Yamato continued, now walking away from the Ogremon, heading back to the village he had left behind so long ago. The sun had long since set, and the forest was dark with the night now.

"Mages would explain a few things not explained by Ogremon," his partner observed, "like the pieces of fence that were burnt."

"It would," Yamato said. Briefly, he glanced back toward the Ogremon, who had descended from shouting into mumbling now. "What sort of mages would have reason to attack a village at Motomiya though?"

* * *

By midmorning, the rain was falling steadily, and an occasional rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance. The sky was shades of dark grey, and candles had to be lit in the halls which ordinarily would have been bathed in sunlight.

Takeru had slept late, lulled into dreaming by the storm, and awoke to the sound of thunder crashing rather close by. He sat up, wondering if it was actually still evening, and felt a bit disoriented for a few moments.

Patamon was already awake, sitting on the windowsill and peering out at the storm. "It's really coming down," he observed. "I'm very glad to be inside rather than outside."

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Takeru trudged toward the window and peered out. He pushed the window open a bit and listened to the sound of the rain pouring down. The air was cold and damp. A flash of lightning lit up the sky, shortly followed by a loud clap of thunder. Once more, he shut the window.

"Very glad not to be out on the sea," he stated in agreement with his partner. He yawned wide and stretched his arms over his head. "At least there's something to be thankful for."

Patamon had nothing encouraging to say to this. He sat quietly on the windowsill and watched the storm for a bit longer, than turned back to watch as his partner finished dressing. "Do you think Hikari will be all right?" he questioned after a long moment.

Takeru was quiet a long moment, buttoning the top few buttons of his shirt a bit more slowly than usual. "I don't know," he admitted. "Miyako doesn't seem to think that she can help, and if she can't, I don't know what mage she thinks can." He fastened the top button and sat down on the bed to pull on his boots.

"And I wonder," he added absently as he laced them, "where Daisuke has gone. If he's in some sort of danger, or if he's gone off…gallivanting or something…." Briefly he paused to collect his thoughts, and frowned severely. "Either way, he ought to be here."

"What do you think?" Patamon questioned, flying up to his partner's head and taking his usual position. "Do you think he really is off…gallivanting?"

Takeru got to his feet and headed out of the room. "I don't know," he admitted. "I don't know what to think. Everything's so…." He sighed.

* * *

The sky in Motomiya was grey and cloudy, but it had not yet begun to rain. There had been no villagers at the door at sunrise, so Yamato concluded that there had been no further attacks from Ogremon or mysterious mages.

He was beginning to come to the conclusion that he would never know the real reason for the attack, and that waiting around for another one was not likely to produce any further evidence. He voiced this opinion to Jun over breakfast.

"So I don't see any reason for me to stay here, since there's no evidence that something else might happen," he concluded, and set down his mug of drink, having finished his meal.

"I suppose if you think that's the best thing," Jun replied. She was hesitant, as she didn't want to risk another attack, but his reasoning had been unflawed. "I'm sorry to make you come all the way here to look at broken fences and wander in the forest."

He laughed, which surprised her quite a bit. "No, no," he answered, waving a dismissive hand. "I'd rather roam through half-haunted forests chasing insane Ogremon than spend another day reading mail and filing paperwork."

Jun simply stared at him as though she thought him completely insane, which was probably the sane response to such a statement. Before she could say anything further, however, the door opened and a young man entered, carrying a roll of paper.

"A message, milady," he said, and handed it to her. "Piyomon arrived a few moments ago."

Jun unrolled the paper and scanned the words within, then passed it Yamato. "It seems it's for you."

* * *

"To be completely honest, I don't think that Koushiro would have any more luck with this than I have," Miyako replied. "He's a brilliant wizard, of course, but he's rather out of practice with spell removal."

"That completely exhausts my knowledge of brilliant wizards then, I'm afraid," Takeru stated with a shrug. "Any other mages I've met weren't anywhere near as good as you two, except of course for healing mages."

"I don't suppose a healing mage would do much good in this situation," Patamon concluded.

"I don't think so," he replied. "Mei is a good healer, but she doesn't really know anything about spells beyond that. There's nothing wrong with Hikari that a healer would be able to fix."

Miyako nodded. "It's a magical problem, that's for certain."

"What other mages do you know?" Ken questioned. "Surely you know a few others besides Koushiro?"

She sighed. "I met a few dozen on the Sanctuary Island a few years ago," she replied, "but I don't know if any of them would be able to help. I don't know where to begin looking for any of them, either. Very few people _live_ on the island. Most stay there for a time, to train, and then leave."

"Still," Takeru said, "that might be a place to start. If the mages there were able to mostly unravel the spell of slavery…."

"They weren't though," Miyako interrupted, shaking her head. "That was all Hikari's doing. With help, of course, but mostly on her own."

The room fell silent for a long moment. "It seems," Ken said then, "as though the best person to unravel the spell on Hikari…."

"Is Hikari," Wormmon concluded.

Once more the room lapsed into silence. Takeru, sitting upon the window seat, leaned back against the cushions and peered out at the storm beyond. The rain pattered the windows steadily, and the wind rattled the glass.

The door opened quietly, and he turned his head, expecting to see a servant enter the room, perhaps bringing some food or some other news. Instead, Daisuke stood in the doorway, looking rather unhappy. V-mon was following at his heels, looking halfway between confused and annoyed.

His hair was rather damp, indicating that he had either recently been outside or recently bathed. As he was otherwise dressed in dry, warm clothes, the second explanation was more likely.

Ken said nothing; Takeru was too astonished to speak; but Miyako got to her feet immediately.

"And where in heaven's name have you been?" she demanded.

He was frowning absently upon entering the room, and at this question his frown only increased. He shut the door behind him and then turned a rather severe expression in her direction which unexpectedly silenced her.

Then, Daisuke turned and cast his eyes over the rest of the room as though daring anyone to say anything. Ken wisely said nothing, and Takeru had not yet regained the power of speech, so his glare went uncontested.

Still saying nothing, Daisuke crossed the room and sat down in the chair closest to the bed. The moment his eyes found Hikari, Takeru noticed, his frown did not evaporate, but his expression changed from a severe sort of anger to a more helpless sadness. V-mon climbed onto the bed and sat beside Tailmon, who was still curled in a ball at the foot of the bed.

"Nothing's changed," Takeru said after a long moment in which Ken and Miyako exchanged glances and nothing was said. "Miyako doesn't think…isn't sure she can unravel the spell. She awoke, but only for a moment, and then went back to sleep."

"Hmm," was all Daisuke said in response to this. He sighed heavily and leaned back in the chair.

Miyako had not moved from where she'd been standing, and now she sat down in an overstuffed armchair near the foot of the bed. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I've been trying, but it might be more than I'm capable of."

He turned his head toward her and studied her for a moment. Then, he shook his head and turned back toward Hikari once more. "It's all right. It may be that you can't," he said quietly, and his voice sounded tired. Miyako breathed a visible sigh of relief.

"Where have you been?" Takeru ventured to ask after some time. He said it in a rather timid, quiet sounding voice, hoping to get an answer rather than a glare in response.

"Don't worry about it," Daisuke replied, and waved a hand dismissively.

"Don't worry?" Miyako echoed, leaning forward. "Don't…worry? Of course we're going to worry…."

She broke off at that precise moment because Hikari had once more opened her eyes. Instead, she got to her feet and took a few steps forward.

Takeru, noting the abrupt ending to her sentence, turned in time to see that she had gotten to her feet, and then saw that Hikari was awake. He leaned forward on the window seat.

Daisuke said nothing, only reached out and took her hand in his own. Hikari blinked her eyes a few times and then focused them upon him. She smiled a faint sort of tired smile, as though she was waking up from a pleasant dream, and then she reached out toward him with her free hand and placed the tips of her fingers upon his forehead.

Miyako must have noticed what was coming, because she took a step forward. "Be careful – !" she warned.

To Takeru and Ken, without magical sight, they saw only that Daisuke's eyes suddenly grew big and wide, and seemed to see nothing. He became very still, almost seemed to stop breathing.

"What's happening?" Ken asked.

* * *

Whatever was written in the letter was obviously rather important and slightly disturbing, for immediately upon reading it, Yamato got to his feet. He took a few steps away from the table, taking the paper with him.

"What?" he questioned, and then read the letter again.

"Is something wrong?" Jun wondered, for he was obviously somewhat distressed.

He crossed the space between them in a few steps and handed her the letter. "Read it for yourself," he replied, and then sighed. "I suppose I'm staying here a few days longer after all."

Jun took some time to read the letter, and then reread it as well. She looked up from the paper. "I don't understand what the princess's kidnapping has to do with me."

He ran a hand through his hair and sat down once more. "Don't you?" he questioned. "First she is taken, and then Motomiya is attacked. If the information we got from the Ogremon is correct – and it may be, at least partially – it seems as though the two things may be connected."

"Connected how?" she wondered, looking down at the paper once more. "You mean the teleportation spells?"

"Exactly," Yamato replied. He lifted his mug from where it had been sitting, mostly empty, on the table, and downed the remainder in a single gulp. "Which means there is a good chance that they may return."

Jun read the letter once more, considering all the information. "It doesn't make any sense," she said then. "If the thing that connects the princess and Motomiya is Daisuke…what would a group of mages with teleportation crystals want? Why would they want to harm him?"

Yamato shrugged, setting his mug back down. "The only way we'll know that for sure is if we get one of them to answer that question."

* * *

Daisuke found himself standing in the courtyard, outside the door to his own house. The sky was gray and cloudy, and the wind was strong and growing stronger, indicating that a storm was approaching.

"How did I…?" he began, and then saw that Hikari was standing beside him. "You did this?"

She nodded, saying nothing, and pointed one hand toward the gardens beside the house. The trees were covered in blossoms, many of which were being forced from their branches by the winds blowing hard. In the midst of it he could see that a small group of people was standing beneath the trees.

He glanced back toward Hikari. "I don't understand."

Hikari only nodded again and then took a few steps in the direction of the gardens, taking a hold of his arm and pulling him along with her. He followed along after her, noticing that as they came closer the people in the garden grew more clearly visible.

They were not in the center of the garden, but a short distance away, in a section near the rear of the house which was bordered on all sides by a small wooden fence. Gray stones were scattered liberally through the space, markers for graves.

The people were all dressed in black, and they were all people that he recognized. His father, looking a bit older than the last time Daisuke had seen him, stood alone a short distance from the rest of the crowd, looking pale and tired indeed. He could see quite a few people that he knew as villagers, and a few people that he knew to be distant relatives he had not seen in years. Miyako was there too, and Ken, both looking solemn and serious.

"A funeral," Daisuke concluded, and looked to Hikari. "Who died?"

She only shook her head with a solemn frown. He now saw that another small group of people was coming from the house carrying a coffin upon their shoulders. Unexpectedly, a loud sob broke from the crowd of mourners, and he turned back, in surprise, to see that Mimi was there. Aware that she had attracted attention, she buried her face in her hands and attempted to quiet herself. Miyako, a short distance away, let go of Ken and wrapped her arms around Mimi instead.

"It's not fair," Mimi mumbled, sniffling. "She wasn't…even…."

"I know," Miyako said quietly.

"She?" Daisuke echoed, and watched as the coffin slipped through the crowd and made its way toward the grave that had been dug. "It isn't me, then." He looked over the crowd, searching for someone. When he didn't find her, he looked once more toward his father and understood.

"My sister," he concluded, and took a step forward. "They killed my sister?" He looked back toward Hikari, who was still holding on to his hand. "Why?"

Still she said nothing, only shook her head and squeezed his hand more tightly.

* * *

Two things I am not so terrific at: updating regularly and coming up with chapter titles. Thus, this chapter.


	10. Connections

**The Ancient Curse**

**Part Ten:** Connections

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie: ** _Digimon_, all related characters, etc, does not belong to me. Plot, however, does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

"She's _using_ magic?" Takeru questioned. "I didn't think that was possible…she's too weak!"

"It's not supposed to be possible," Miyako replied. "It'll probably only weaken her more. Whatever it is she wants to show him must be important."

"I doubt she's had a vision of something unimportant," Ken noted solemnly.

Before anyone could agree with this statement, a quiet thud sounded. Hikari had apparently finished whatever she had been doing, and now fell back onto the pillows. She shut her eyes once more, apparently ready to return to sleep.

Daisuke, meanwhile, had returned to normal. His eyes returned to their usual size, and then they focused once more upon the reality around him.

"What did you see?" Miyako questioned.

He was quiet a long moment, frowning as though in thought. Then, he took a deep breath and turned his eyes toward the others. "I need a favor," he said.

"What sort of favor?" Takeru wanted to know.

Once more, Daisuke was quiet for a moment before he spoke, and then he sighed heavily. "I need someone to go to Motomiya," he replied. "I think my sister is in danger."

"Your sister?" Miyako echoed. "What sort of danger?"

He frowned more severely and turned his eyes toward Hikari for a moment. "I don't know," he answered. "All I know is that if I don't do something, she's going to die."

A stunned silence followed this remark, but no one questioned the accuracy of the prediction.

"Somehow," Ken said thoughtfully, "the two things are connected."

"Connected?" Takeru echoed. "You mean the same person that kidnapped the princess is going to kill Jun? Why?"

"The best connection between the two is Daisuke," Patamon pointed out helpfully. "Is it possible that someone doesn't like Daisuke very much?"

Once more everyone considered this for a few moments. "That's a distinct possibility," Daisuke replied, and sat back in his chair.

"Is it possible that someone doesn't like him enough to put the princess in danger because of it?" Wormmon clarified.

All eyes present turned briefly toward Hikari, who had returned completely to sleep and was now dozing peacefully.

"That's a harder question to answer," Daisuke admitted.

"Well," Takeru said after another moment of silent thought. "I'm not really much use here…I suppose I could go."

"No," Ken disagreed. "I'll go."

"I agree," Miyako said, nodding. "No offense intended, Takeru, but Ken could probably…." She struggled for the right words for a few moments, and glanced helplessly toward Daisuke and Ken.

Takeru only shrugged slightly and sat down once more on the window seat. "Yeah," he said, and shrugged again.

"That's not what I meant," Miyako said, and took a step forward. "I'm sure you could do a great job of it, it's only…well…."

"It's only that I did such a fabulous job of protecting Hikari that it's time someone else had a chance at it, right?" His voice dripped of sarcasm and perhaps a bit of self blame. "No," he said, and shrugged. "It's fine. I'll stay here and watch her die instead."

There was a silence that followed this remark that could best be described as stunned. Miyako glanced helplessly toward Ken, who looked back with a helpless shrug.

"Blaming yourself won't help matters," Daisuke said after a moment or two had passed. He was looking at Hikari as he spoke, perhaps remembering a past conversation. "What's happened has happened. The one to blame is the one who did this, not you."

Takeru said nothing. The rain fell steadily on outside the windows. Thunder rumbled, and a bit of lightning flashed.

"If whoever's doing all of this really is doing it because they've got some sort of…grudge against you," Miyako said then, "do you suppose the rest of us are in some sort of danger?"

"Maybe," Daisuke admitted. He sighed and ran his hands through his still-damp hair. "I don't know."

"It's a possibility," Hawkmon commented rationally, looking up from where he had been napping on the back of an overstuffed armchair. "The culprit does seem to be targeting people who are close to him, and it can be said that all of the Chosen are close."

"Exactly how close do you need to be, though?" she wondered. "I mean, obviously Hikari and his sister…but what about friends? What about acquaintances?"

"Are you worried for your own safety?" her partner questioned. "Or someone else's?"

"A bit of both," she confessed, and sat down in the armchair he'd been perching on. Noting that all eyes in the room were now upon her, following her line of thinking, she went on. "I don't think, not that I would know, but I don't think that if I was searching for people to harm in order to get to Daisuke, that I would go after me. To be honest, I don't know if my being kidnapped would really trouble him."

"It might not," Daisuke mumbled dryly, apparently in a bit of a better mood.

"Thanks for your concern," Miyako replied. "I see I'm safe from future dangers. Others, however…." Here she glanced sidelong at Ken, who was the only one in the room still standing, apparently deep in his own thoughts.

All eyes now turned toward Ken, who shrugged, seemingly unconcerned about his own safety. "I believe I can defend myself," he replied with a shrug.

"If not, I believe I certainly can," Wormmon added defensively.

"I believe," Takeru said quietly, "that Tailmon would have said the same thing."

No one wished to insult either digimon's ability to protect his or her partner, and so a brief moment of silence passed.

"Still, it's a good point," Takeru went on. "Exactly who might be a future target and who might not? Maybe we should warn the other Chosen, at least, of what's going on."

"Speaking of the others," Hawkmon said thoughtfully, "has anyone sent word to Taichi?"

Silence once more filled the room, this time with a bit of a fearful tinge.

"In my defense, I would like to say that I was a bit busy," Daisuke said.

All eyes present turned toward him, apparently eager to have the sentence finished with what it was he had been busy with, but he said nothing more.

"I suppose that we should have thought of that sooner…," Takeru agreed. His eyes had gone a bit wide, and he now grimaced as though in expectant pain, and put one hand on his forehead. "Oh, that's not good."

Miyako sighed and shook her head. "Luckily for both of you, Hikari's mother thought of it. I helped her to compose such a notice in the most tactful way possible yesterday."

Takeru and Daisuke both heaved visible sighs of relief. "Well," Daisuke said then. "I suppose we have a few hours before he's here."

* * *

The skies above Hida were clear and crisp, with only a few white fluffy clouds floating cheerfully along. The temperature was still rather cold for springtime, as was common in the northern reaches of the kingdom.

Iori, fairly recently made Lord of Hida, had only recently begun to readapt to the harsh, bitter winters. Though he had been born in Hida, he had left at a fairly young age and had not greatly missed the harsh snowstorms and short summers of the north. Now, though all the snow had thankfully faded away, a bit of chill was still in the air and thus he dressed warmly when he awoke in the morning.

Springtime was a season filled with changes, and this was true even in Hida, though the changes were thus far mostly unnoticeable. Pulling on a pair of thick socks and warm boots, Iori made his way down from the higher levels where his bedroom was located, and headed for the warmth of the kitchen ovens.

Though it was ordinarily customary for the Lords of other places to take meals either in their rooms or in grand, stately dining rooms (of which Hida had several), Iori preferred to eat breakfast in the warm and crowded kitchen, especially in the winter. He descended several long flights of stairs and rounded a few corridors before he reached the large kitchen.

As always, the crowd of diners was thin this early in the morning, with only a few other people sitting upon long benches set beside long tables. During the winter, when the snows were harsh, a good portion of the village population spent its days in the large manor house, which was sturdy and warm. After the thaw, however, the breakfast tables only housed a few of the servants who were awake in the early hours and had the time to spend leisurely enjoying their meal.

A large kettle of hot tea was set in the middle of the table and a few mugs scattered around it. Iori poured himself a bit and held it in his hands, toasting his fingers. Though his room was not overly large and a fire had been lit, it was still cold in the morning, and he sipped the hot liquid gratefully.

The few other people in the room were either engaged in conversation or hungrily devouring their meals, so Iori took a seat alone near the middle of the long table and sipped his tea. After a few moments, one of the cooks set a bowl of hot porridge in front of him, and he devoured it eagerly.

There came the sound of footprints in the hall, and a young boy appeared in the doorway. His coat was unbuttoned and the laces of his boots were half undone. He carried in his hand a roll of paper with a small ribbon around it, obviously a message delivered by Piyomon that morning. He paused in the doorway for a few moments, catching his breath, and then his eyes met Iori.

"Sir," he said, holding up the paper in his hand. "Message."

"I see that," Iori said, swallowing his most recent spoonful of breakfast. "I suppose it's something important, and that's why you ran down here at the risk of tripping over your own feet?" He gestured toward the boy's shoes as he spoke.

"I suppose so, yes, sir," the boy answered. "It came from the palace, and the Piyomon said it should be read right away."

Iori had eaten another spoonful during the explanation, and now he set down his spoon and wiped his hands briefly upon a napkin before he took the paper from the boy and opened it.

He read it, absorbed what he had read, and then read it again. Then he sighed, pushed aside his bowl of porridge, took one last gulp of hot tea, and got to his feet.

* * *

"Are you sure going is the best idea?" Mimi questioned. "Sora…."

"I can manage fine, Mimi," Sora interrupted before she could be used as fuel for an argument. "I'm hardly an invalid, and it's not as though I'm going to give birth tomorrow."

"All the same, to be away…," Mimi protested.

"I won't be gone for long," Taichi replied, pulling on his jacket as he spoke. "No more than a few days, I'm sure."

"Why do you say that?" Jyou questioned with a nervous frown. "Is it because you think Hikari will be fine in a few days, or because you think she'll be…."

"Jyou!" Mimi scolded. "Don't say such things!"

"Neither," Taichi answered, shaking his head. "I think something else entirely." He was fiddling with the buttons on the collar of his shirt for a few moments, trying to decide whether or not he should button the last one. Finally, he gave up.

"Are you sure you don't want Jyou to go along?" Mimi persisted. "He's the best doctor in the kingdom, I'm sure he could do something…."

"I don't know about that," Jyou replied modestly.

"I'm sure he couldn't," Taichi stated. "Sorry, Jyou," he apologized, "but the letter clearly states that it's entirely a magical problem. Unless you've learned any spells in the last few days…."

"I haven't," the doctor replied immediately. "I'm fairly certain that I can't."

"So you won't be much help," he finished. "I leave everything in Sora's capable hands, and I leave Sora in the capable hands of the best doctor in the kingdom."

"I don't know about that," Jyou said once more, frowning toward Mimi.

"Well, perhaps I should go with you?" Mimi questioned. "If something's happened to Hikari, it's not inconceivable to think that you might be in danger as well."

In truth, there were few people that Taichi would have less wanted to travel with than Mimi, but she did have a point. It wasn't wise for him to travel alone, and there wasn't anyone else to bring along. Yamato had gone to Motomiya, Sora and Jyou were staying out of necessity, Iori and Koushiro were in Hida, and the other Chosen were all with Hikari.

"I don't think that's a bad idea," Sora admitted, and so he sighed in reluctant agreement.

"I'll be no more than ten minutes," Mimi promised, and hurried out of the room before anything further could be said.

"I would rather risk going alone," Taichi mumbled grumpily when the door had shut behind her.

Sora took a step forward and took both his hands in her own. "I would rather you didn't," she replied.

* * *

Koushiro was unsurprisingly nose deep in a rather thick book filled with magical formulae. In the corner of the room he had made his own in Hida, a fire blazed in a large hearth. A cauldron was filled with some unknown liquid, which was beginning to boil as the flames danced beneath the pot. The wizard himself was seated at a small table a short distance from the flames. The table was covered with books and a number of glass beakers, each of which was filled with a different color bubbling liquid.

The door was opened slightly, and so Iori had slipped inside, entirely unnoticed. He had planned to begin to speak immediately, but the sight of a dozen different colored bubbling liquids on the table made him pause and stare.

"So then add the Airdramon scales to the boiling water…," Koushiro mumbled to himself, and took the first liquid from the table before him. It was slightly bluish in color, and was bubbling slightly. The wizard then carried the beaker to the fire and poured it slowly into the boiling cauldron of water. The bubbling increased in intensity for a few moments, and there was a small popping noise, but nothing further happened.

"Hmm," the wizard noted. "Not quite what I was expecting."

"Not all combinations result in explosions," Tentomon commented from his perch on the back of a nearby chair. "Sometimes that's desirable."

"I suppose," Koushiro replied with a shrug. He turned back toward the book. "If I then add the Piyomon feathers…."

"What," Iori interrupted before anything further could happen (like a large explosion he didn't want to be caught in), "are you trying to make?"

"A flying potion," Koushiro replied absently, not looking up from the book. "Yes, here it is. Piyomon feathers, slowly, while stirring." He took another beaker, this one filled with a bubbling pink liquid, and carried it back to the fire.

Slowly, he poured this liquid into the concoction, stirring with a large wooden spoon as he did so. Again, there was no explosion, but a bit of purple-colored steam began to rise from the pot and fill the room.

"Did the book say anything about smoke?" Tentomon questioned. He took to the air and made his way toward the window on the far wall, which he then opened wide. It soon became rather difficult to see, or to breathe.

"I don't believe it mentioned it," Koushiro replied with a disappointed sigh. "Another failure, perhaps."

"Perhaps," the digimon replied. "You haven't tried drinking it yet."

"True, true," the wizard conceded.

After a moment, a strong gust of wind blew through the room, and all the purple fog vanished. Koushiro sighed, rubbing his hands together, and studied the potion in the pot. He sniffed at it for a moment. "It smells a bit like fruit pie," he noted, and shrugged. "I'll wait until it cools before I try it out."

With an absent wave of his hand, the fire extinguished itself, and the wizard turned away from the cauldron once more to finally notice that Iori was standing at the doorway.

"Ah, Iori," he greeted. "How can I help you? I hope not with a flying potion, because I don't believe that one was a success."

Iori debated questioning the wizard on his reasons for creating a flying potion, but decided against it, because it was likely to be a long discussion. "A letter came this morning from the King," he replied instead, and held out the paper. "I think you might want to read it."

* * *

The rain had thankfully abated slightly as the journey had progressed, and so by the time that Taichi and Mimi arrived at the coast, a small bit of sun was peeking through the clouds in time to create a brilliant sunset over the water. The grass was still covered with rainwater, however, and the smell of dampness hung in the air.

"Finally," Palmon mumbled sleepily as she climbed down from the cart, yawning wide. "I thought we'd never get here."

It hadn't been a particularly long journey, but it had been a stressful one. Taichi had not been in the mood for conversation (which was understandable, given the situation), but Mimi rarely felt that way. She had instead kept up a steady stream of chatter through nearly the entire trip, upon every subject imaginable; Sora's pregnancy, rumors she had heard floating about the palace, the weather, the state of the economy, her recent sighting of one who might have been the dark bandit, and every other subject she could think of except Hikari's well-being. She had been hoping to distract him from the problem at hand, but had mostly succeeded in giving him a massive headache and not much more.

Even now, he was rubbing the bridge of his nose with two fingers, hoping to somehow expel the aching in his skull. The doors to the house opened at almost the same time as the carriage doors, and now a small crowd of servants surrounded them, taking the few bags they had brought with them.

An man with grayish white hair had followed the small crowd of servants, and now he paused a short distance from the carriage and bowed slowly. "Welcome, your majesty, milady," he said. "Your arrival is expected. You wish to see the princess immediately?"

"Yes," Taichi replied before Mimi could say anything further (as it was looking as though she might). "How is she?"

"Things are not as they should be," the man replied, turning to head back into the house, "and yet they are better than they were."

"So she improves?" Mimi concluded. "Well, that's a relief."

"Perhaps," he replied. "Perhaps not."

Taichi responded to this cryptic statement with a frown of concern. He said nothing further until they had reached the top of the steps. "My mother is here?" he asked then.

"She is," the man replied, passing through the doors, which were held open by a pair of servants on either side. "Do you wish to see her first?"

He shook his head. "No," he answered immediately. "I want to see my sister."

The man nodded. "Understood, sir," he answered.

They passed through the foyer, under the ornate chandelier, and down a hall to the left before stopping in front of a wooden door. The man turned the handle and opened the door.

"No," Miyako was saying, in a rather stern tone of voice. "Absolutely not."

"Why not?" Takeru was asking, and as the door opened wider they could easily see that he was standing in front of the window at the opposite side of the room. He was the first to notice that the door was opening, and so he stopped whatever else he might have said before this and fell silent, eyes opening slightly wider.

"Because it's ridiculous, reckless, and stupid, and…," Miyako began, and then noticed the expression on his face and stopped. She turned to see what he was looking at and saw that the door had opened.

Daisuke, looking up at her sudden pause in speaking, noticed first the silence, then their expressions, and then the direction in which they were both looking. He quickly got to his feet, nearly knocking over the chair he'd been sitting in.

Taichi stepped into the room. His gaze passed briefly over those assembled and then fell upon Hikari, who was, as always, sleeping peacefully in the bed. He took a deep breath, and then crossed the room. Daisuke stepped back from the chair and watched as Taichi sat down in it.

The man who had led them there now shut the door with a quiet click and vanished. Mimi took a few steps forward and sighed.

* * *

I have to confess that the only reason that Jyou was in that scene was because I feel guilty about not having every character appear at least once in each story. Jyou doesn't ever have much to do, so I throw him in when it's possible. Similarly, the scene with Koushiro was written not so much to advance the story but because I thought it was amusing.

This is the first fanfic I've written where I outlined a Plan beforehand. Interestingly enough, I'm detouring slightly away from the Plan, but I think it's making things better. Hope you're enjoying.


	11. Fear and Suspicion

**The Ancient Curse**

**Part Eleven: **Fear and Suspicion

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** In case you did not know, _Digimon_, all characters, money, merchandise, etc, does not belong to me. The plot of this particular story, however, does. In short, don't steal, don't sue. I haven't got that much money to give you anyway. Don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

* * *

The sun was rising over Motomiya when the carriage pulled up to the front steps and halted. As it was early, no one had been expecting visitors, so no crowd of servants came out to meet it, but only three boys who had happened to notice the arrival of the vehicle.

Ken climbed down from the carriage and frowned over the space. Something about the air, perhaps, was making him feel rather uneasy. Perhaps it was only the prediction that Jun was soon going to die, or perhaps it was something else. He paused a few steps from the vehicle and peered out over the village.

"Sir?" one of the boys was saying, and he broke out of his reverie to turn in his direction. "Do you want me to put it in the usual spot?"

He was holding up a bag as he spoke, the only bit of luggage Ken had with him, a questioning expression upon his face. Ken nodded absently, and glanced back across the village briefly before pushing the thoughts from his mind. "Can you tell me where to find Jun?" he questioned.

The boy shrugged. "I believe she's eating breakfast, sir, but I'm not sure. Do you want - ?"

"No, that's all right," he replied. "I'll find her myself."

"Yes, sir," the boy answered, and was gone into the house, carrying the bag as he ran. The other two boys had already made short work of the carriage, and were helping the driver to lead it and the Monochromon away, and so Ken and Wormmon were soon quite alone.

"Something about the village bothers you?" Wormmon questioned from his partner's shoulder. "It doesn't look strange to me."

"Something," Ken replied absently, and walked toward the house. "Later, I think, I'll go and see more closely. For now, we should probably tell Jun that we're here."

* * *

"No, no," Mimi scolded. "You are coming, and that's that. You need to eat. None of you look as though you've had anything to eat in the last few days. I am sure," she added, as Daisuke opened his mouth to protest, "that this is not what the princess would want."

He fell silent at this, though he continued frowning, and allowed her to pull him down the hall.

"At any rate, I think it might be best if we let Taichi have a bit of time alone with his sister. I wouldn't get in his way if I were you," she added in a low, conspiratorial voice, "he's not been in the best of moods lately."

"I can't imagine why," V-mon mumbled sarcastically, following along after them.

She pushed open the door into a small dining room that he had not previously known existed. Miyako and Takeru were already seated at the table, empty plates before them waiting to be filled with food. Takeru was peering absently out the window at the still-gray sky, and Miyako was studying her empty plate with a bit of intensity. Remembering their unfinished argument from the day before, Daisuke decided it was progress that they were no longer shouting at each other.

"Sit, sit," Mimi said then, half-shoving him into the room, and he took a few steps forward and reached the table. He pulled out the nearest chair to him and sank into it with very little enthusiasm. Mimi took the remaining chair beside Miyako, on the other side, and smiled widely.

"Fabulous!" she said, grinning. "I'm sure you'll like the food. All three of you look as though you haven't eaten a thing since you've been here, and that is not good." She wagged a finger in mock anger.

"Not true," Takeru replied. "I've eaten."

"Well, not enough, then," Mimi replied. She turned as the door opened and a few servants came in carrying trays of food. "Fabulous!" she said again.

When the food and drink had been set out and the servants had departed again, the room settled into a rather contented quiet as all began to eat.

"Well," Miyako admitted after the first few bites, "I have to admit, this is delicious."

"Oh, it is!" Mimi agreed, swallowing another gulp of her drink. "I'm sure that you did not eat so well when you were with the Ogremon."

"Not even close," she replied, mouth half-full. "Ogremon are not known for gourmet food."

"I'm very glad that I did not have to spend two weeks with them," Mimi said then, half-shuddering at the thought. "I don't think I would have fared so well. I am glad, however, that you made it back so quickly, because there's something I've been meaning to ask you." Here she turned toward Daisuke, who paused in his chewing of a mouthful of food and raised both eyebrows.

He swallowed, and then took a gulp of his drink before answering, "Ask me?" He glanced briefly toward Miyako, and then toward Takeru, who put aside their own argument to glance at each other momentarily as well.

"Do you suppose," Patamon whispered quietly to his partner, "that Mimi has figured everything out?"

"Maybe," Takeru replied hesitantly, and met Miyako's eyes across the table briefly. Miyako returned the glance and filled her mouth with food at the exact moment that Mimi finally spoke.

"Have you any knowledge of the current whereabouts of the Dark Bandit?"

The question was asked so casually, as though she were merely inquiring after his health or the weather, that for a moment Daisuke did not completely understand the meaning. "Current whereabouts?" he echoed blankly, and took another sip of his drink. "Why?"

"Well, I think I might possibly have seen him the other day, although I'm not exactly certain. You're the only one that knows very much about him. Sora thought that perhaps he might – are you all right?"

Miyako had at some point during this speech begun to cough, apparently choking upon her breakfast. Takeru, sitting across from her, was so concerned that he got to his feet and took a few steps toward her. She raised a hand, waving off his assistance, and took a large gulp of water.

"I'm fine," she said after a moment. "I'm fine."

Daisuke was smiling slightly in her direction, though his amusement was subdued. "You sure?"

"I'm fine," Miyako said again, glaring at him, and took another drink. "Sorry. Go on, Mimi."

Mimi was looking a bit confused at all the commotion, but she nodded. Takeru sat down again, frowning slightly. "Right," she said, recovering. "As I was saying, Sora had thought the Dark Bandit might have retired from being the Dark Bandit, since he does have to be someone else when he isn't that. However, I might have seen him a few days ago."

"What was he doing?" Takeru questioned, curiosity getting the better of him.

"I'm not exactly sure," Mimi replied, and glanced toward Palmon.

"He was on the roof of a bank," Palmon explained. "We were in the marketplace and we saw someone on the roof of a building, so we climbed up to investigate. It might not have been him, I don't know."

"But it might _have_ been," Mimi pointed out. "He was dressed all in black with a big hat." She faltered slightly, and then shrugged.

"It could have been an ordinary bandit," Takeru put in. "Maybe he was only copying…maybe it was an imposter."

"Why would anyone want to pretend to be the Dark Bandit?" Mimi questioned, shaking her head. "It's been how long now since anyone last saw him? Years."

"Maybe," Miyako said quietly, "it's part of a trap…."

A silence briefly fell over the room. "A trap?" Mimi echoed after a moment. "What are you talking about?"

Miyako was quiet a moment, considering her words before she spoke. She did not look up, but studied her plate with some interest. "If he is an imposter…maybe he's a trap…for the real one."

"Why would anyone want to lay a trap for the Dark Bandit?" Mimi asked.

"He's a friend of Daisuke, isn't he?" Takeru recalled, and glanced back to Daisuke. "If our theory is right, that whoever's behind this is somehow against Daisuke…."

"Wait," Mimi interrupted. "That's the theory?"

"Then he's in as much danger as Hikari, isn't he?" Miyako concluded. She was still staring down at her plate, not looking at the others.

"Maybe," Daisuke said then, interrupting whatever Mimi might have thought to say at this time. "Maybe it's not. Maybe you're thinking too much about it, and it's only a case of mistaken identity." He was looking at Miyako as he spoke, and though she undoubtedly felt his eyes, she didn't look up, but sighed heavily.

"Maybe," she admitted quietly.

"So you're saying it definitely wasn't him?" Mimi concluded. Daisuke shrugged.

"That's not fair!" Takeru said abruptly, and got halfway to his feet. "You know something, and you ought to tell the rest of us!"

A bit of stunned silence followed this announcement. Takeru sat back down again, but focused his intense gaze upon Daisuke. "I can't say, because I don't know for certain," he replied after a moment, shrugging lightly once again.

Miyako, who had looked up toward Takeru when he had half-shouted, now turned her eyes toward Daisuke. "You don't know for certain?" she echoed.

He shook his head. "I wasn't with him," he replied. "I've been with you," he turned toward Takeru, "for the last week."

"Not the whole week," Takeru answered immediately. "There was a few days that you weren't."

He shrugged again. "All the same," he answered.

"But, you don't think it was the real thing?" Mimi said before Takeru could continue his demands. Daisuke sighed.

"I don't think so, no," he admitted with a shrug. He turned back to Takeru. "Happy?"

"No," Takeru replied grumpily. "You're keeping too many secrets, and I don't like it."

Daisuke shrugged yet again, and Mimi shook her head. "He's always been like that, hasn't he?" she said to Takeru. "Keeping secrets."

Takeru only frowned deeper and folded his arms across his chest in thought. The others resumed their eating.

* * *

"He sent you?" Jun said, apparently astonished. She sat down in the nearest armchair, her legs suddenly unwilling to hold her up any longer. "So my brother also thinks something might happen to me."

Yamato was frowning seriously, and had folded both his arms across his chest. "Interesting how quickly he came to that conclusion, being as he didn't know about the Ogremon."

"What Ogremon?" Ken questioned, confused.

"Something, we're not sure what, came out of the East Woods a few days ago and attacked the village. Burned down and smashed a few fences, caused a bit of damage," he replied, and sat down in another nearby chair, frowning in thought now. "I came to investigate, and Gabumon and I met an Ogremon in the forest."

"He was mostly insane," Gabumon noted, "but some of what he said might be a bit true. He said something about mages who appeared and vanished in the blink of an eye."

"Exactly as Takeru reported," Wormmon recalled. "So it _is_ connected."

"I don't understand," Jun said. "What could a group of mages want with my brother?"

Ken shook his head. "No idea," he replied. "None of us have any idea who's behind this. All we can conclude is that people close to Daisuke are in danger, and that includes you."

Jun took a deep breath and let it out shakily. "All right," she said then. "So I'll stay indoors and be careful, right?"

"That wouldn't be a bad idea," Yamato admitted. He glanced briefly toward Ken. "I'm sure that between the two of us, you won't have anything to worry about."

She got to her feet once more. "I'm sure," she replied, managing a smile. "All the same, I think I have a few words I need to write to my brother."

When she had left, Yamato got to his feet again. "There's something else," he said then. "Some other piece of evidence that's sent you here."

Ken nodded. "It seems the princess had a vision, and she passed it to Daisuke somehow. I don't know the details, but he seems to think his sister will die if we don't do something to help her."

"Die?" Gabumon echoed in disbelief, and shook his head. "That's serious."

"Someone," Yamato mumbled, "seriously doesn't like him."

* * *

When the meal had finished, they all filed back into the hall and turned to head back to the room where Hikari was. All, that is, but Miyako, who turned a different direction. She hadn't taken more than a few steps when she heard Daisuke call after her.

"Where are you going?"

"To my room," she replied. "I have a letter I need to write."

This explanation seemed to satisfy Mimi and Takeru, for they both continued down the hall, Mimi now going on about the spring weather and the frequency of coastal storms at this time of year.

It apparently did not satisfy Daisuke, however, because he followed after her. When Mimi and Takeru were out of sight around a corner, he took hold of her arm. "A letter to who?" he asked.

She squirmed in his grasp and took a few steps backward, but he did not let go. "You might not be concerned," she said in a low voice, wary of any guards or servants who might be nearby, "but I am. Very."

"You can't send him a letter," Daisuke stated, and reached out for her with his other hand.

"I can do what I wish," she answered, pulling away from this second grasp. "Let go."

"Listen to me," he said. "You can't send him a letter about an imposter."

"Why not?" she replied, and took another step back. "Let go of me, or I'll scream, and then…."

Daisuke sighed heavily. He pushed open the door nearest to them and pulled them both inside the room. It was an unoccupied study; a few armchairs and couches mixed in with bookshelves and a large, empty fireplace. He shut the door behind him and let go of Miyako, then stood in front of the door, blocking the exit.

He was looking at her with an expression similar to the one he had fixed upon her the day before, when he had returned after a few days' absence. Once more, the intensity of it astonished her, and she took a few steps back, momentarily fearful.

"I am _quite_ concerned," he said in a low voice. "It's because of _me _that everyone's in danger, isn't it?"

"Well then, do something!" she demanded, a bit louder than she had intended. "You've sent him off into danger, and you don't want me to even warn him about it?"

"He knows about it," Daisuke returned, and took a step forward. "He knew about it before he left, and he _volunteered_ to go. I didn't _send_ him anywhere."

She was quiet a moment. "I don't understand why…."

"Because Takeru is here!" he replied, waving one arm around him. "He isn't stupid, and he's already suspicious! He's been suspicious of me since the day I met him, and I'm giving him reasons to be. Between him and Mimi and Taichi..."

"You're still worried about that?" Miyako demanded. "You're worried that someone will find out who he is? I'm worried that someone will _kill_ him! You don't think that's a bit more important?" Her voice was wavering slightly, and she took a step away, turned toward the window.

"You don't think the two are related?" Daisuke asked. "You think that if the entire kingdom knew the identity of the Dark Bandit, that they would all say 'oh, how interesting!' and then do nothing?"

She said nothing for a long moment.

"They wouldn't," he went on, speaking a bit more calmly now. "If you send him a letter, it could be intercepted by the wrong people, it could be read by someone else. If someone finds out the truth, it puts him in _more_ danger."

Miyako turned back to face him. "You think Takeru would…?"

"I don't know what he would do," he admitted. "I don't know what Taichi would do, I don't even know what _Hikari_ would do."

"Then maybe I should just go to him," she said, and took a step toward the door. Daisuke moved, stepping between her and the door again. "If I can't send him a letter, at least I can talk to him in person!"

"No," he said, shaking his head. Miyako took another step forward, and once more he moved to intercept her, this time grabbing on to both her arms. "No."

"I can't do nothing!" she said, half shouting now. "Let go of me!"

"Miyako, you can't - !" he replied, lowering his own voice to a near whisper. Desperately, he took a step forward, and pulled her closer.

For a moment, Miyako could hardly breathe, and then she thought she could hear voices and footsteps in the distance. Her head was leaning up against Daisuke, and though she struggled, he was holding on tightly, hoping to silence her. "Quiet," he whispered harshly. "Don't make a sound."

She was breathing now, short, gasping breaths, and her heart was racing. Through the door, she could hear the heavy steps of the guardsmen patrolling the corridors. Their voices, muffled with distance and walls between, did not sound concerned or upset in any way. After a moment, she thought she could hear laughter from one of them, and then the footsteps moved on.

Miyako felt Daisuke relax, his breathing steadier and slower now. He loosened his grip upon her arms and sighed heavily. "Look, you can't go after him. It will look suspicious."

She didn't move, but rubbed one of her hands across her eyes. "I don't see how," she mumbled stubbornly. "I'm going to help him, to help Jun."

He shook his head, and she felt this movement though she couldn't see it. "When only yesterday you were content to stay and try to help Hikari?" he returned. "You don't think Takeru would put two and two together?"

"I don't care what Takeru thinks," she answered, a bit louder than intended, and her voice broke in the middle of this sentence. She swallowed, and rubbed at her eyes again. "I don't…I can't…," she began, and then gave up trying to talk.

Daisuke sighed. He released his grip and put one arm around her instead. "I know," he said quietly, "but you'll put yourself in danger, too."

Miyako said nothing for a long moment, and then she sniffled and rubbed her eyes once more. "What do I do?" she asked.

He sighed again, and shook his head. "I don't know."


	12. Investigations

**The Ancient Curse**

**Part Twelve:** Investigations

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all related characters, etc, does not belong to me. Plot, however, does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy!

* * *

The mid-afternoon sun was high in the sky, and a few Airdramon were lazily circling the village of Hida. The weather was close to warm by northern standards, which to most who resided further south was still rather chilly. A few fluffy white clouds were floating through the sky.

Koushiro the wizard now resided for half the year in this northern town, and truthfully would have been content to remain there for the other half as well. Each spring for the last few years had conspired to have him return south, however, and this year seemed to be no exception. Thus, he was climbing down from the large wooden steps with a half-dozen books in his arms, trailed by his partner and a pair of boys. One boy carried another half-dozen volumes and the other carried a single bag of luggage. It was without a doubt that the boy carrying the bag had a far easier task.

A carriage, already hitched to a waiting Monochromon, was at the foot of the steps, the young man who was to be its driver already sitting in his seat, ready for his passenger. As Koushiro reached the bottom of the steps, the boy who had carried the bag (and thus had a free hand) opened the door to the carriage, and the other boy deposited his pile of books within. Koushiro placed his own pile inside with a bit more care, and then took the bag from the other boy and placed it within as well.

"Is there more, sir?" questioned one of the boys, and Koushiro turned back to see that they were both looking at him with wide eyes. Apparently they were guessing that he, as a wizard, might be carrying a bit more interesting materials with him. Certainly, he thought, they were not usually so eager to carry luggage.

"No, I think that will do," he replied, wiping his hands upon his coat. "I will undoubtedly need something in one of the books that I have left behind, but I cannot carry them all with me." He sighed.

The boys both hid their disappointment better than some might have, but their reluctance was still evident as they bowed politely and left, climbing back up the stairs with heavier steps then they had climbed down. Koushiro watched them go, wondering absently if he ought of have cast a few spells upon his room before leaving. Such things were not necessary at the palace, where fear, both real and exaggerated, managed to keep inquisitive children from his space. Here, however, he had not had much opportunity to interact with the people of Hida, and they were not so well trained in the ways of wizards.

Iori was coming down the steps when Koushiro pulled his mind from his thoughts, and within a moment more he had reached the bottom. He did not look pleased about the wizard's departure, but he fared far better when it came to hiding his own unhappiness.

"You could not ask for a better day for traveling," he noted conversationally. "I hope you have some luck."

"As do I," Koushiro replied. "I should hope you won't have to come south for a funeral."

Iori deepened his frown, for he was of the mind that to speak of bad things was to invite them to come, but he said nothing, for he did not disagree. "Are you sure you have all you need?" he questioned instead.

Koushiro sighed. "I should like to be able to carry my entire library north and south and any other place I go," he confessed, "but as I can't do that, I'll have to be content with what I can take. I think I've packed the essentials. I'm certain that I have further books on the subject at the palace, and if not, there may be some other useful volumes about."

This had not been precisely what Iori had been referring to, but it was not an unexpected answer. He'd had more in mind sufficient food supplies and other traveling essentials, but these, of course, were rarely on the wizard's mind. "You're headed for the coast, then?" he said, turning his head westward. "The roads in that direction aren't so safe, and the journey will take a while. Maybe an Airdramon or two might come with you?" He glanced upward briefly as one of the serpents came between them and the sun and cast a shadow over the land.

Koushiro shook his head. "No," he answered. "Orders were to come directly to the palace." He shrugged. "I suppose they plan to bring her home."

Iori frowned absently, but did not speak aloud the dark thoughts running through his mind.

* * *

A bit of cool water and a few deep breaths later, Miyako found that she felt or at least appeared to be calm once more. The nervous sensation within her stomach was still present, fluttering about like a Piyomon caught in a hurricane, but it was not quite so overwhelming now.

"You could say that you don't feel well," Daisuke suggested, not looking in her direction. "Get some rest. You _do _need some."

"And that wouldn't look suspicious?" she questioned. They rounded a corner and she glimpsed the edge of a coat as a servant went around another corner at the end of the hall.

He shrugged. "Anything looks suspicious if you look hard enough," he replied, and reached for the door handle. "Try not to think about it."

She shook her head. "That's not possible." Another deep breath, perhaps a heavy sigh. "I'll be fine," she said.

Another moment passed in which he fixed her now with a searching sort of gaze, as though he wasn't quite certain whether to believe her, or perhaps whether to trust her. Then he shrugged again and opened the door.

The room was quiet. A muted conversation was taking place between Mimi and Takeru, who were seated in two of the overstuffed armchairs beside the fire. Taichi was absently peering out the window at the sun-filled gardens beyond, apparently lost in thought, and the digimon were lazily dozing in various positions around the room.

Hearing the door open, Mimi got up immediately. "Did you get your letter written?" she questioned of Miyako, who had almost completely forgotten about the letter she had claimed to be writing.

"I…," she began, and hesitated briefly. "I started it," she replied. "I haven't yet finished."

This, she reasoned, was not entirely a lie. She had been composing the letter in her head even before she'd finished eating. It had simply never made it to the paper.

Takeru was frowning deeply, possibly still unhappy about the conclusion of the breakfast conversation. Miyako saw that Daisuke seemed to notice this, but then shifted his eyes toward the bed, in which Hikari was still sleeping.

"Mimi," Taichi said in a low voice, almost inaudible. She turned back towards him briefly, but he did not turn away from the window.

"Well," she said instead, "it's such a nice day outside, and I have not yet seen the gardens." Turning toward Takeru, she smiled pleasantly. "Will you not come with me?"

Takeru blinked, his unhappiness momentarily forgotten, and looked toward Mimi. "The gardens?" he echoed blankly. "Why - ?"

She grabbed hold of his hand and tugged at it. "Yes, the gardens. I'm sure you haven't seen them either. Sunshine is good for you, you know. I'm determined to see them, as I am sure that the flowers are quite beautiful this time of year. You cannot allow a lady to go unescorted."

He blinked once more, and then sighed heavily in a way that reminded Miyako momentarily of his brother, and got to his feet. "I am certain that there isn't anyone else who could go with you, of course," he said.

"Oh, I'm sure I might find someone if I searched hard enough," she replied cheerfully, "but why should I search when I have company right here in front of me? Come now."

Before Takeru could say another word, Mimi had pulled him from the room and shut the door behind them. Miyako watched them go, and watched the door close, wondering if perhaps she ought to leave as well. She looked toward Daisuke, but he had not taken his eyes from Hikari. He had not moved, either, but was still standing only a short distance inside the room, as though he was not certain if he ought to enter further in.

For a few moments, silence passed, and Miyako took her glasses from her nose and put them in the pocket of her skirt.

Almost immediately, the room became a collage of swirling colors, of intermingling auras, twisted spells, and protection magic that had been woven into the house itself. She took a moment to become used to the sight of it all, and then turned her eyes toward Hikari.

Her aura was clear and strong, indicating that she was not so weak as some might think, but it was greatly hindered by a mist of magic that surrounded her like a thick fog. It appeared to be a purple haze at first glance, though closer examination would reveal that it was, in fact, made up of bits of red and blue magic which were connected, knotted and woven like a blanket or a cloak.

"What is it you see?" Taichi questioned, for he had turned away from the window and noticed the direction of her gaze. In answer, Miyako removed the spectacles from her pocket and held them out to him.

"See for yourself," she replied.

He put them on, and blinked a few times. "Colors," he said, and put one hand upon his forehead as though to fight an approaching headache.

Miyako nodded. "Every person has an aura, and there are four people in this small room, so that's a lot of colors."

Taichi turned his head, focusing first upon Miyako, then upon Daisuke, and then upon the wall behind him. "The building…," he began, and she nodded once more.

"Protection spells," she replied. "Some of them are very old, placed when the house was built. Most are a bit more recent, though."

"A spell can last that long?"

"It can, if it was woven securely enough, and if it is not attacked enough. These, however, have been strengthened over time, likely with each new owner."

He nodded, having a passing knowledge of the nature of protection spells, and turned finally to his sister. "I see a blur of colors," he said then. "Do you know what they mean?"

"Some of them," Miyako admitted. "It seems that there are at least two different spells at work. The blue and the red threads are intermingled enough that it'll probably be impossible to break one without breaking the other. They're only physical spells, though."

"Physical spells?"

"They make her weaker, I would guess. I'm also guessing, and it's only a guess, that they somehow are causing some other physical problems."

"Pain?" Daisuke questioned in a quiet voice.

"Maybe," Miyako admitted. "I don't know. It could be something else. She hasn't spoken the few times she's been awake. It could be that the spell is responsible for that."

"She didn't speak," Daisuke said absently. Feeling questioning eyes upon him, he elaborated. "When I saw my sister…when she showed me…," he waved his hand about absently, indicating that magic had been used. "She didn't speak."

"Showed you?" Taichi echoed. "What did she show you? How did she?"

Daisuke glanced toward Miyako helplessly. "My sister," he said, once more absently waving his hand. "She woke up, and she," he placed one hand upon his forehead, "and then I was…I was at home, for my sister's funeral. I don't know how."

"You were _there_?" Miyako asked.

He nodded. "Standing on the grass, and Hikari was next to me. I asked her plenty of questions, but she didn't speak. Maybe she couldn't."

There was silence for a few moments.

"I don't suppose," Taichi said then, removing the glasses, "that either of you have any clue as to who's responsible for this."

Miyako shook her head. "It's not a magic I've ever felt before," she replied. "It isn't dark, though there are undoubtedly dark tendencies within it." She shrugged. "It's a very intricately woven spell, or spells. Whoever did it is a very skilled, very strong wizard. Aside from that, I know nothing."

Daisuke sat down in the nearest chair, which was only a few steps from where he had been standing. "I have been trying," he stated. "I have been thinking of every person who has ever disliked me since I've been alive – anyone who might have…held a grudge or…." He shrugged. "I can come up with a pretty long list," he admitted.

"Anyone who also happens to be a wizard?" Miyako wondered.

"Aside from you?" he asked with a slight grin, and shook his head. "No. I don't know many wizards. There could be someone who knows a wizard, who employs a wizard."

"Maybe," she admitted. "I don't think so, though. It's a pretty serious crime, kidnapping a princess. To find someone who might be willing to do that…."

"Would mean that whoever the second person was would have to either be easily bought or share the same convictions," Taichi concluded with a frown. He was looking toward Daisuke with a thoughtful expression. "It seems you've made someone angry."

Daisuke sighed. "So it seems," he replied.

A long moment of silence passed. Taichi put both his hands in his pockets and lost himself in his thoughts for a while. Miyako slipped her glasses back into the pocket of her skirts, sat down in the closest armchair, and frowned in concentration.

"Well," Taichi said after some time had gone by with no one saying a thing. "It seems you ought to go home and see to it that no one harms your sister."

"Actually, about that…," Daisuke began, hesitantly. "I can't."

Taichi waved a hand dismissively and sat down upon the window seat. He shook his head slightly. "You don't want to leave her, do you?" he asked, a faint smile appearing as he turned his eyes toward his sister.

"No…," Daisuke admitted, and then sighed. "No, and I can't."

"Can't?" Miyako echoed, curious about his choice of words. He had easily left earlier. "Why do you say that?"

He glanced briefly toward her with a vaguely unpleasant expression in his eyes, as though willing her to silence. It was too late, however, for the question had been asked, and now Taichi, too, was waiting for this answer.

"Yes, why?" Taichi agreed. "You would chose Hikari's safety over that of your own sister?"

"No," he replied immediately. "That's not a choice I could make."

"But you are," Miyako noted, frowning now in thought. "You would send others to your sister, but you do not go yourself."

He shook his head, a bit of his previous anger appearing in his eyes, though only briefly. "I do not go because I can't." He sighed heavily and turned away. "Her majesty…."

There was a silence as the room waited for him to finish.

"I can't leave her," Daisuke finally finished with a defeated-sounding sigh. "I am…under orders."

Another silence passed, this one quickly extinguished as Taichi got to his feet. "My mother?" he concluded. "My mother said that?"

"Yes, sir."

Miyako counted herself as more confused than ever before. So much, she thought, for the theory Takeru had proposed earlier. If the Queen had been responsible for keeping Daisuke away, why would she then give him orders to stay close?

It appeared as though the conversation had not clarified matters much for Taichi, either. He crossed the room in a few long strides and opened the door. "Stay here," he said then. "I think I need to talk to my mother."

With that, he was gone, and the door shut behind him. Agumon, napping upon the window seat, briefly opened one eye, and then shut it immediately once more and returned to sleep, deciding that he need not follow his partner.

"Why?" Miyako questioned into the silence. "Why would she…?"

Daisuke shrugged absently and got to his feet, feeling restless. "I don't know. I didn't question it."

She waited a moment for him to say something more, but he didn't, and instead paced absently between the window and the door of the room.

"Why didn't you say something?" she asked then, and once more got only a shrug in response. "Where were you?"

Once more he shrugged absently, but this time Miyako didn't relent. She watched him intensely as he turned to change direction near the window and met his eyes. "Where were you?" she asked, and got to her feet, taking a few steps toward him.

He looked away, studying a patch of grass outside the window, and offered another shrug. "Don't worry about it," he said. "It isn't important."

"If it isn't important, then why do you keep it secret?" she demanded.

* * *

The village of Motomiya had changed little in the past years, Ken noted as he wandered through the streets. He had spent many months of his childhood and adolescence here, and the village was much the same as he recalled. Most of the same shops were present, and the same people ran them and shopped within them.

The only significant change to the small village was that the imposing, large prison across the river was no longer there.

It was late afternoon, the sun slowly sinking towards evening in the western sky. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary to his eyes, but Ken had a feeling that might change come nightfall.

The village at Motomiya had always had a fairly active nightlife.

"Does it still feel strange to you?" Wormmon questioned, riding upon his partner's shoulder. "Nothing _looks_ odd."

"Something…," Ken replied absently. "I don't know."

They passed through the center of the village, where most of the shops and inns were, heading eastward toward the river. Now it was mostly small houses and huts that lined the streets, some of which had small tracts of land beside them in which small gardens were showing the first signs of life.

Here or there, a section of fence had been felled, and the debris cleared away. None of the houses had been significantly damaged, but every few steps there was a tree down, and in places the ground looked as though it had been burned by fire. Ken halted in the middle of the street and peered around him, taking in the scene as a whole.

"Yamato said that whatever it was that attacked looked as though it came out of the forest to the east," Wormmon recalled. "Do you suppose we should head east?"

Ken turned his head in that direction. A few houses lined the river's edge, and a single bridge crossed the water into the woods. Fishermen and boys daily stood alongside the waters catching their dinners, but they rarely crossed the bridge to drop their lines in from the other side.

"There's something about the other side of the river that they don't like," he mused aloud, his feet already heading in that direction. "I don't remember what it was…."

"I don't think it was anything in particular," Wormmon commented. "Superstition, mostly."

"Maybe," Ken replied with a shrug. "Maybe not. I suppose it might be worth it to investigate."

Before Wormmon could agree or disagree with that statement, a shout interrupted him. "Kodo! Watch out!"

A small boy, carrying a basket of leafy greens and a Pagumon in his arms, abruptly stopped, mere steps away from Ken and Wormmon. Though the greens themselves were not particularly heavy, the Pagumon was large enough to block the boy's vision, and as such he would likely have walked right into Ken had the warning not been called out.

It was an older boy, a bit taller than the first, who had shouted out the warning. He was a few steps behind his brother, and carrying a few fish in his hand. With his free hand, he lifted the Pagumon from the basket. "You shouldn't ride there," he scolded the digimon, "unless you're going to call out warnings."

"Sorry," Pagumon replied sheepishly. "I was thinking about dinner."

"Do you ever think about anything else?" he questioned with a sigh.

"Why should we?" came the reply from the older boy's partner, an Agumon who was a few steps behind him. Noticing Ken, and recognizing him, the dinosaur digimon raised one claw in greeting. "Oh, hello!"

"Hello?" his partner echoed dumbly, and then glanced up to see who it was that his brother had nearly walked into. "Oh, sir. I…that is…sorry about my brother…."

"No harm done," Wormmon replied politely. "He really ought to watch where he's walking, though."

"Sorry, sir," Kodo replied. "I'll be more careful. Come on, Pagumon. Pay attention this time."

"Okay, no problem!" Pagumon replied cheerfully, hopping back to his place. Shijo placed the fish he had been carrying into the basket as well and watched as his brother and his partner continued down the street.

"Are you back from the Ogremon, then, sir?" Shijo questioned when his brother had vanished around a corner. "I wasn't expecting you for another week or so."

"We weren't expecting to be back," Wormmon replied conversationally. "Things went well with the Ogremon, though, thankfully."

"Well, then, we didn't miss any excitement after all," Agumon said with relief. "Shijo was a bit disappointed about having to say behind."

Shijo frowned in his partner's direction. "Quiet, you," he muttered crossly. "But what brings you to the village?"

"A mysterious feeling," Ken replied absently, speaking for the first time since the boys had appeared. He was focused intently upon the forest to the east.

"Mysterious feeling?" Agumon echoed blankly.

Ken turned his gaze toward the dinosaur digimon and his partner. "Tell me what you know about the forest."


	13. The Rabbit's Necklace

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Thirteen: **The Rabbit's Necklace**

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie**: _Digimon_, all related characters, merchandise, and money, does not belong to me. Plot, however, does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

* * *

"About the forest, sir?" Shijo echoed. "You mean _that_ forest?"

"That is the only one around here that I know of," Ken replied. "I know that everyone in this village is afraid of it. I would like to know _why_."

"Why, sir?" the boy echoed once more. "Ah, well…I suppose a number of reasons. I was always told the forest was a hideout for notorious bandits."

"There are plenty of bandits in this village nightly," Wormmon pointed out. "The entire village is a hideout for bandits and thieves."

"Yes," Shijo agreed, "but those are only ordinary bandits and thieves. The really bad ones are said to hide in the forest."

"That's all?" Ken questioned. "Bandits?"

The boy shrugged. "Bandits and murderers and monsters, I suppose," he replied. "It depends upon who you ask what exactly it is they're afraid of."

The conversation, Ken found, was beginning to produce a mild headache in the center of his forehead, and no useful information. He sighed. "So there is nothing in particular, no concrete reason for anyone to be afraid of the forest? Nothing but bandits and monsters that keep fishermen from crossing the bridge."

"I suppose so, yes sir," Shijo answered. A thought apparently occurred to him at that moment, for he spoke again. "Are you going into the woods, sir?"

"It seems I'll have to," he replied, "if I'm going to find out what attacked the village."

"Attacked – oh! Is that what you're investigating?" Shijo hurried to follow after him as Ken headed off eastward, apparently intent upon doing as he had said. "They did say that whatever it was attacked came out of the woods. I don't know what it was. Mama wouldn't let me leave the house."

"No one knows exactly what it was," Wormmon replied. "They think it's likely to have been Ogremon and a group of mages."

"Mages and Ogremon?" Shijo echoed. He paused a moment to consider this, and then hurried to catch up as Ken had not stopped.

"That's the theory," Wormmon answered.

They had reached the edge of the river by now, the small, not often used wooden bridge stretching before them. A cool breeze blew down from the north, rustling the tall weeds at the water's edge.

Ken paused, glanced down at the boy. "Are you coming?" he asked.

Shijo opened his eyes wide. His ordinarily strong desire for adventure momentarily fought with his somewhat irrational fear for a few minutes. He swallowed, and then nodded without speaking.

* * *

"I say, it does get a bit chilly here sometimes," Mimi said when the door opened and she and Takeru returned. "I suppose it comes from being so near to the ocean, doesn't it?"

"I suppose," Miyako replied. "It is still only early spring, Mimi. Not yet summer."

"True, true." She sat down in a nearby armchair, shifting her skirts around her as she did so that her feet were still almost completely hidden beneath them. "Oh? What's this? Where has our King gone to?"

"To speak to his mother," Daisuke replied from the window seat, where he was absently peering out at the world beyond.

"His mother?" Takeru echoed. "About what?"

"It seems that her majesty gave Daisuke orders not to go anywhere," Miyako replied. She was lounging in an overstuffed armchair in a slightly less ladylike fashion than Mimi. Her feet were curled up beneath her and she was sitting sideways, so that she was leaning up against the back of the chair.

Takeru had been in the process of sitting down upon another chair. Hearing this, he straightened once more. "What? Why would she do that?" he questioned. "Didn't she – wasn't it she that…that…." He trailed off, noticing that Mimi was peering at him with a questioning gaze.

"That what?" she questioned, and he noticed that Daisuke now turned toward him with a similar expression.

"Your theory," Miyako reminded him. "She didn't give a reason for her actions, and Daisuke didn't ask. I suppose that Taichi has gone to ask her reasons."

"What theory is this?" Mimi asked.

Takeru waved one hand dismissively and sat down in the chair. "A stupid theory," he replied, "which has now been proven completely wrong, so there's no sense in discussing it."

"Has it?" Daisuke asked, turning back to whatever it was that he was peering at beyond the window. "Must not have been a good theory then."

"Could I at least hear what the theory was about?" Mimi questioned. "Or am I to be left completely out of all conversations?"

Phrased in such a way as that, the question demanded to be answered. "The theory," Takeru replied, "was about what had happened to Daisuke after we arrived."

"What happened to him?" Palmon questioned.

"He vanished," Patamon replied. He had awakened from his nap and now flew across the room to rest once more upon his partner's head. "They said that the Queen wanted to see him, and so he went, and never returned."

"Well, that's silly," Mimi replied, gesturing toward Daisuke, who was still sitting on the window seat, and had now turned his head back to the room with a mildly curious expression on his face. "He's right there."

"He did return," Takeru corrected, "but it took him several days, and since then, he has not said where he was."

"Where were you?" Mimi demanded of Daisuke, who shrugged, a bemused smile beginning to form now on his face.

"As I said," Takeru noted, gesturing toward Daisuke. "He won't say."

"Well, why not?" Mimi questioned. She again looked toward Daisuke, who shrugged once more, and then toward Miyako, who sighed.

"Who knows?" she replied. "Takeru, does your theory explain that part?"

"My theory has been proven wrong," he reminded her. "So even if it did, it would likely be the wrong explanation."

"All the same, tell your theory!" Mimi commanded. "Even if it is wrong, I want to hear it."

"It was a simple theory," Takeru replied modestly. "I only thought that, as her majesty did not seem to ever care much for Daisuke, that she had in some way blamed him for what happened to Hikari."

Every eye in the room that was opened turned toward Daisuke now, to see if this produced some sort of reaction from him. He had turned his gaze back out the window once more, however, perhaps to hide if he _did_ have such a response.

"Well," Mimi demanded. "Is that true?"

Daisuke sighed. "I haven't a clue what her majesty thinks," he replied. "I certainly don't know what she thinks of me."

Mimi considered this response for a moment. "True, true," she conceded, and turned back toward Takeru. "You claim to know what's inside her head?"

"No," Takeru admitted. "It's only a theory, based upon previous evidence. She certainly didn't seem upset when her husband seemed intent upon killing him."

"And so," Miyako went on, a rather dramatic flair in her voice now, "having heard rumors, her majesty chose to blame Daisuke entirely for whatever evils had occurred to her daughter and thus use that reasoning to act upon her intense hatred."

"Intense hatred?" Hawkmon questioned dryly, opening one eye.

"_Intense_ hatred," Miyako agreed. "Quite intense. So intense that she had him taken from the house in the middle of the night and thrown over the cliffs into the ocean, thus ridding herself of the problem forever."

Patamon couldn't help but giggle at this telling, and Palmon joined in.

"Is her hatred really so great she would have him killed?" Hawkmon wondered. Miyako shrugged.

"Perhaps not killed," she conceded. "Perhaps only thrown into a dungeon to rot for all eternity."

"Yet that theory, at least the killing part, was proven completely wrong when he did return, wasn't it?" Mimi concluded. "How did you explain that?"

"Guilt?" Takeru suggested with a shrug.

"_Intense_ guilt," Miyako clarified. "So intense that she completely changed her mind about Daisuke altogether and gave him orders to never leave Hikari ever again, even if that meant he must follow her into the grave."

"To the grave?" Hawkmon echoed.

"To the grave," she repeated, and threw one arm across her forehead with a dramatic flourish.

"I don't recall the part about the grave," Daisuke admitted.

"That comes later," Miyako replied with a wicked sort of grin.

"What motivated this guilt, though?" Mimi questioned. "Even if such a feeling were responsible for his return, then what caused her intense hatred to change to guilt?"

Miyako shrugged and gestured toward Takeru. "His theory."

"Which, as I said, was proven completely wrong," he replied. "I haven't yet come up with a better one."

"Does your theory explain why it is he won't say where he was?" Mimi wondered. "If he was in the dungeon, rotting away, why doesn't he say that?"

Takeru shrugged. "He's Daisuke," he replied. "He likes to keep secrets."

"I wouldn't want everyone to know if I had spent three days…or however much time it was…rotting in a dungeon," Miyako pointed out.

"Well, I would!" Mimi returned. "I'd want the whole world to know, and then I'd want to…I don't know, to do _something_ to whoever had put me there!"

A bit of silence followed this pronouncement. "If it was the Queen who had done it, though," Takeru pointed out, "who would be able to help you?"

The door opened at that precise moment, as Taichi returned from his excursion. There was a thoughtful frown upon his face, as though he was still trying to make sense of something.

Miyako turned so that she was sitting in the chair properly, and all eyes turned in his direction, now eager for an answer to the questions they had been discussing.

He shut the door behind him quietly, so that there was only a soft click in the silence of the room. No one spoke for a few moments.

"Mimi," Taichi said then, and she leaned forward in her seat. "I'm leaving in the morning. Are you coming?"

"Leaving?" she echoed, apparently intending to question this decision. He turned his eyes toward her then, however, and she saw that had made up his mind and would not be swayed.

"Of course I'm coming," she replied then. "You can't go alone."

He nodded, having expected such a response, and sighed, for he was not looking forward to another such journey. He took a few steps further into the room and sat down in the nearest unoccupied armchair with a sigh.

"And Hikari?" Mimi ventured to ask after a few moments of further silence. "Will she come with us?"

Taichi shook his head. "No," he answered and sat up a little straighter. His gaze crossed the room and landed upon Daisuke. "Take her with you."

"With him?" Mimi echoed, now sitting upon the edge of the seat.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Takeru said at almost the same moment. "Is she even strong enough to travel?"

"I don't _have_ to go," Daisuke said a moment after them, and got to his feet. "She could stay here…_we_ could stay here."

Taichi was shaking his head while all three were still speaking, and he went on shaking it after they had finished. "She's stronger than she looks," he said, turning to Takeru. "She'll be all right. It's not a long journey. If you're worried, you can go along."

Takeru considered this for a moment, and then nodded in agreement. "I will," he said, glancing toward Daisuke.

"Wait," Daisuke said, shaking his head. "I never said I _was_ going. Ken is in Motomiya, and I'm sure that he can protect my sister. There's no reason…."

"Yamato, too," Mimi interjected. "Yamato is still there."

"My brother's in Motomiya?" Takeru questioned, interrupting before anything further could be discussed. "Why?"

"Because of the attack," Palmon replied, which clarified nothing as far as Daisuke or Takeru was concerned.

"Attack…on the village?" Miyako interrupted, similarly confused. "When was this?"

"The village was attacked?" Daisuke questioned at the same time. "Why?"

"Quiet!" Taichi said then, for the sound of several people talking at once was beginning to give him a headache, and more questions were being raised than answered. The room fell silent at this command, and he savored this for a moment before he spoke again.

"Several days ago, there was an attack on Motomiya," he began. "It wasn't anything serious, and no one was hurt. A few fences were knocked down, and the villagers were upset. Lady Jun asked for help in determining what had caused it, and for protecting against possible future attacks. Yamato went to help in this regard."

"What caused it?" Daisuke asked.

"So far as I know, they haven't reached any conclusions. When I received word that something had happened to Hikari," and here he glanced briefly toward his sister, "and you were involved, I thought that the village attack might be related."

"So orders were sent to Yamato to stay where he was, in case the incident wasn't a coincidence," Mimi added. "He should still be there."

"Unless he decided to leave when Ken arrived," Takeru said thoughtfully.

"I don't think he would, though," Patamon disagreed. "If anything, he might have decided that Motomiya was in more serious danger and stayed on."

"That's also possible," Takeru conceded. He glanced toward Daisuke, who had sat down on the window seat once more. "Are you going?"

Daisuke was quiet for a long moment. He stood up again, and took a few steps in one direction, then turned and walked back to the window seat and sat down again. "I don't know," he said then, now looking toward Hikari. "If there is a chance the journey will be dangerous for her…."

"And it might," Takeru agreed with a sigh.

"And yet…," Daisuke went on, "If there is a chance that Motomiya will be attacked again, I should be there to protect it. I can't be in two places at once. I can't choose between them."

The room was quiet for a few moments. "She _is _stronger than she looks," Miyako said then, speaking softly. Her gaze was fixed upon Hikari. "She is strongest when she is weakest. I can't see the future," she added, glancing toward Daisuke, "but I don't think her end is near."

* * *

The afternoon was slowly becoming evening. The sun in the west was painting the sky a brilliant orange, and the clouds were shades of dark purple puffs floating in their midst.

Shijo had, despite his fears, followed Ken into the woods. Agumon did not seem terribly concerned, for he was a fire-breathing digimon, and believed, perhaps rather naively, that fire-breathing digimon had nothing to fear, especially from humans. Shijo would not have ventured into the woods alone, but, after walking about for some time and seeing nothing frightening, he had relaxed considerably.

The forest, despite whatever rumors there might have been, appeared to be an ordinary forest, at least in sunlight. There were trees and bushes and dirt and a few paths, likely formed by bandits traveling through it. There was no sign of recent human inhabitants; no campfire remnants nor other remains of travelers. There were footprints around, both human and otherwise, but nothing that was in the least bit conclusive.

With the coming of night, the air was growing cooler. Shijo, still young enough that his mother fussed over him when he was at home, had worn a cloak at her insistence, and now pulled it around him to ward off the chill. Ken had also worn a cloak, and a few other things that might be useful, including a sword which was well concealed beneath it. As the sun slowly sank lower in the sky, the air grew colder, and both humans wisely pulled their hoods over their heads to block the steady cold winds.

Before long, the dim light made it difficult to see. Shijo located a sturdy branch on the ground, and Agumon lit it aflame without difficulty.

"It's getting dark," the boy said. "Maybe we should go back?"

Ken shook his head. "No," he said. "We'll have better luck come nightfall."

"Do you think that whatever attacked the village will attack again?"

"I have no doubt of it," he answered, a serious frown upon his face, and sat down on the trunk of a tree that had recently fallen to the ground, perhaps during a storm.

The forest was silent but for the rustling of leaves in the wind and the crackling of the torch that Agumon had lit. For a while, they sat in silence. The cool wind blew from the north, and the sun sank lower in the sky until the sunset turned to dusk and the light of the torch was much appreciated. Feeling tired, Shijo yawned widely, and Agumon followed.

Suddenly, a loud thudding sound came from slightly to the south, startling the boy and the dinosaur digimon into full wakefulness once more. Ken got immediately to his feet, and Shijo followed after a moment.

"Put out the light," Ken said, and Shijo did so immediately, thus plunging the forest into almost total darkness.

"Do you suppose," said a voice nearby, calm and cool, "that I cannot find you in the dark?"

Shijo took a few steps backward, and stumbled over the tree trunk he had previously been sitting on. He fell backwards into a pile of leaves and twigs, and struggled for a few moments to sit up. Beyond the rustling of leaves he heard the sound of a sword unsheathing, and a split second later, another followed. The clank of metal soon met his ears, and he wondered how it was that they could fight in the darkness.

"Agumon!" he called out, when he had finally managed to regain an upright position.

"Baby flame!" called the dinosaur, and a moment later, Shijo saw the face of his partner, who had relit the torch. He took it from his partner, and pointed it in the direction of where the sounds of swords clashing was coming from.

He could not clearly see Ken, who was dressed in a dark brown cloak and thus hard to see in the darkness, but he could see the metal of his sword reflecting in the torchlight. He could more easily make out whoever it was he was fighting, for he was dressed in a long white coat that made him easily visible in the dim light.

Again and again the swords clashed, each fighter easily matching blows with the other, apparently quite evenly matched. The man in the white coat was apparently a skilled fighter, for he moved his feet nimbly across the ground, almost as though he was dancing, and his sword moved in wide, curving arcs and sharp thrusts, a suitable partner. Each jab or slice, however, was met and blocked by his opponent's weapon, no matter which side the attack came from.

"Who are you?" Ken questioned, but the only answer he received came in the form of further sword clashes. His opponent did not appear to be one for words.

There was a wordless shout from nearby, and a gray blob flew through the air directly toward Shijo. He took a step back and nearly tripped over the tree once more. Something with claws had scratched at his arm as it flew past, and he looked down to see that a bit of blood was already appearing on the surface.

"Paralyze Breath!" came a second shout, and once more Shijo took a step backward.

"Baby Flame!" called Agumon, and a bit of flames lit up the night for a few seconds. The gray blur, now easily identifiable as a Gazimon, easily avoided the flames. Once more brandishing its sharp claws, it leapt again toward Agumon, again easily avoiding another blast of fire.

With a grunt, Agumon took a blow directly in the center of his snout and stumbled a few steps backward. The Gazimon, not easily discouraged, struck him once more, so that the dinosaur digimon fell to the ground, and then opened his mouth. "Paralyze Breath!"

Agumon cried out, rolling to one side quickly to avoid the attack, which he did so narrowly. He opened his mouth once more, and another bit of flames singed a bit of the fur of his opponent before he moved out of range.

"Sticky Net!" called a third voice out of the darkness, and the Gazimon suddenly stopped in an almost comical position, his right arm raised behind him in preparation for another blow. Shijo turned toward the voice and saw that Wormmon had fired the attack from a nearby tree, and it was with a sticky sort of web that the Gazimon was bound.

"Paralyze Breath!" called the Gazimon, undeterred by his bindings, but Agumon was easily able to move out of range, and got to his feet slowly.

"Thanks," the dinosaur called to Wormmon, raising a claw in acknowledgement. He turned toward Shijo. "Are you all right?"

Shijo nodded, moving his hand away from the place where the claws of the Gazimon had made contact with his arm. Already the flow of blood was slowing, and the cut appeared to be neither deep nor serious. "Yeah," he said, breathing heavily. "Are you?"

"I've felt better," Agumon admitted.

Before anything further could be said or done, however, a small cyclone began to blow near the space that the Gazimon occupied. Shijo instinctively raised one arm to shield his eyes as bits of leaves, twigs, dirt, tree bark, and anything else began to rise into the air and spin around the space where the gray digimon was. As he had seen wind spells cast before, he was not as surprised by this occurrence as he might have been, though it was still unexpected.

"No you don't!" Agumon shouted, and leapt into the middle of the swirling winds. Shijo took a step forward, but was uncertain of what to do. The winds swirled faster; the space grew more obscured. Agumon appeared to vanish in the midst of all of it.

Shijo took another step forward, jamming the torch he still held into the ground nearby. "Agumon!" he called, and reached out for his partner. He had to turn his head aside to avoid the swirling winds, for small particles of dirt and dust were nearly in his eyes, and so he reached out blindly with both hands.

He felt one hand brush against something that felt like his partner's claw, and he grabbed hold of this securely. His other hand grabbed something else that was smooth and solid, and there was something soft and furry surrounding it. He closed his fingers around this as well and began to pull with all his strength.

It was not easy to pull someone from a whirling cyclone of wind, small though it was. Neither of his arms found obeying his commands easily, despite the effort that the boy threw into his actions. He found that he himself was beginning to be sucked into the space as well. "Agumon!" he shouted again, and immediately regretted it, for a leaf flew into his mouth.

"Sticky Net!" called Wormmon, and a thin strand of something sticky wrapped around Shijo. The insect digimon secured the end of the strand to the tree in which he was perched, and then immediately launched a second one which this time wrapped around the boy's waist. He glanced back toward his partner, and saw that Ken was still quite engaged with the swordsman in the white coat, and thought it would be best not to trouble him. Instead, he launched a third, then a fourth, and then a fifth strand of webbing toward the boy.

With a last burst of strength, Shijo pulled harder with both his hands, and Wormmon pulled with all his might (which was surprisingly a lot, considering how small he was) upon the strands of webbing. The boy fell backward once more, this time landing upon soft dirt and leaves. Agumon flew out of the cyclone, his claw firmly in his partner's left hand, and the wind abruptly halted, sending dirt and leaves and twigs in all directions at a great rate of speed.

Once more, Shijo shut both his eyes and then raised his right arm to shield his face from the debris. He noted now that there was still something in his right hand, and he did not release it, but held on to it as well, even though he did not know what it was.

The wind halted, the leaves and twigs and dirt fell to the ground once more. Shijo spit out the leaf that had been in his mouth and rubbed at his eyes with his right hand.

The sword battle had halted, for the flying debris made it even more difficult to see than the night. When Ken lowered the hand that had been shielding his face, he saw that his opponent was doing the same. An instant later, however, he was gone.

"You lost it," the swordsman's voice was saying, and he was then standing a few steps from Shijo. He was lifting the Gazimon from the half-destroyed web that Wormmon had created. Bits of the sticky thread were still hanging from the fur of the digimon.

The Gazimon had nothing to say to this, but moaned in a bit of exhaustion and perhaps some sort of pain. The swordsman, apparently his partner, turned back toward Ken. "It isn't over," he said. "You are not safe. _She_ is not safe."

Then he was gone, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Since there was no one to fight, Ken sheathed his sword and frowned at the space where his opponent had vanished. "Teleportation," he mumbled crossly. "So it _was _the same." He crossed the space between himself and Shijo and halted in front of the boy. "Are you hurt?"

Shijo was still rubbing at his eyes with his fist. "Only a scratch, sir," he reported, looking at his arm. "Gazimon claws aren't poisonous, are they?"

"No," Ken replied, "but you still ought to go home and clean that up so it doesn't become infected. You were lucky."

Agumon got to his feet. "Doesn't feel like lucky," he mumbled grumpily, moving slowly so as not to make worse the bruises he'd received.

"It would have been more unlucky if you'd gotten sucked into the cyclone and teleported to who knows where," Wormmon told him. With another thread, he descended the tree he had climbed into and took up position upon his partner's shoulder once more.

Shijo was getting to his feet, pulling off bits of sticky thread from his clothes. "Thanks for helping us, Wormmon," he said. "We couldn't have gotten out without you."

"Next time," Ken said, "perhaps you won't leap after your opponents when they attempt to retreat." He turned toward Agumon as he spoke.

The dinosaur digimon rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry," he mumbled quietly.

Shijo looked at his right hand now, for he realized his was still holding something in it after all this time. It was a small golden necklace, probably the right size for a Gazimon to wear. A pendant of some sort of red shiny stone set in the midst of a golden surround glinted in the dim light. The chain itself had been broken, probably by his pulling on it.

"Why would a Gazimon have need for jewelry?" he wondered aloud.

* * *

Something happened! I am so astonished by this that I have nothing more to say. Except: thanks for reading!


	14. The Accident

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Fourteen: **The Accident**

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, etc, is not mine. Plot is. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

Under a bright, moonlit sky, the waves crashed violently into the rocky cliffs. A few clouds floated aimlessly through the sky, but were completely without threat of rain. A gentle, cool spring breeze danced across the waves and the plains near the cliffs.

A window near the front of a large house on the cliffs was open partway, allowing a bit of the gentle breeze to enter the small bedroom.

Tailmon opened one eye sleepily and yawned, flicking her tail. Slowly, she got to her feet and stretched out her body as only a feline can do. Absently, she turned about a few times in place and then laid down upon the bed once more. This time, however, she did not immediately return to sleep, but squinted through half-closed eyes toward the door, as though she was expecting someone to enter.

Her ears, always alert to danger and anything of interest, twitched at the sound of her partner's waking a short distance away, and so she turned her eyes in that direction. Hikari, appearing rather tired, was slowly sitting up, yawning.

Tailmon lifted her head and turned it toward her partner. A bit of a cool breeze caused the curtains to flutter gently near the window. In the hall, footsteps could be heard quietly padding through the hallway, for the work of this house was never finished.

There was a quiet tap on the door, and then it opened. A man carrying a small lantern poked his head into the room, a sleepy-looking Gotsumon at his feet. Tailmon blinked at him in the light and twitched her ears slightly. The man held the lantern high and turned his head from side to side. Seeing nothing suspicious nor of interest, he stepped back out of the room and shut the door behind him.

Tailmon turned back to her partner, who had also watched this scene. Almost immediately, the sound of muffled voices in the hall caused her ears and eyes to focus once more upon the door. A quiet conversation was apparently taking place between the man who had looked in with the lantern and some one else who was in the hall.

After a moment or so, the door quietly opened once more.

"Trust me, it'll be fine," said a whispered voice, and then the door was shut.

The room was lit only by moonlight, and this was not enough light to see clearly by. Taichi had not bothered with a lamp, however. The embers of a blazing fire were all that was left in the fireplace, and with the window partly open, there was a bit of chill in the room.

He crossed the room and shut the window with a quiet click, then pulled closed the drapes that had been waving in the breeze. Turning back to the room, he clearly saw the bright blue eyes of Tailmon, who had not in all this time moved more than her head.

Even in the dim light, the feline eyes peered at him with intensity, and startled him a bit. Taichi took an involuntary step backward, nearly sitting down upon the window seat, and took a deep breath.

"You nearly scared me half to death," he told the digimon in a harsh whisper.

Tailmon flicked her tail absently and yawned, apparently of the opinion that it was his own fault for not having brought a light with him.

Agumon, having followed his partner in, took a deep breath and then silently re-ignited the fireplace with a burst of flames from his mouth. Job completed, the dinosaur digimon then climbed into the armchair nearest the fire and fell immediately to sleep.

The fire did much to aid both the temperature of the room and the field of vision possible. Taichi, dressed still in his nightclothes, spotted a small bit of fabric that had somehow fallen to the ground earlier and not been noticed. As it was pink and shiny, he suspected it belonged to Mimi, and so crossed the room and picked it up from the floor. As he stood once more, his eyes finally took note of his sister, who was sitting up in bed and watching him as she had been since he had entered.

For a long moment, there was silence. Taichi stood, a bit of pink ribbon in his hand, at the foot of the bed, and stared blankly at his sister. Tailmon had apparently decided that nothing of interest was going to happen, and had returned to sleep. Agumon, in an armchair behind his partner, snored quietly and mumbled something without words.

Absently, Taichi stuffed the ribbon into his pocket. He took a few steps forward, blinking in the dim light. "Hikari?" he said, cautiously, and saw that she was smiling at him. He took a few steps more, and sat on the edge of the bed.

* * *

The moon was high in the sky by the time that Ken returned from his excursion to the village. Returning had taken longer than anticipated, for they had first stopped at the house of Shijo and his family. The boy's wound was not serious, and so mending his arm took only a few moments. A bit of debate had followed, however, mostly between Shijo and his mother, about whether he ought to stay at home.

His mother was apparently of the opinion that if the boy only stayed at home and out of the way, there would be no further trouble. Shijo, however, had never been one for staying out of trouble, and reasoned (somewhat correctly) that if he had been attacked once he might be again. If he returned to the manor of the Lord of Motomiya, he would likely be safer than if he stayed at home. It was this line of reasoning that had finally persuaded his mother.

Ken wisely did not mention his thoughts to either the boy or his mother, but the fact that the Gazimon had deliberately attacked the boy made him quite concerned. He had not considered the possibility previously, but Shijo was probably as close to Daisuke as anyone in the village, and thus was likely in a bit of danger.

Jun had not gone to sleep, though she had changed into her night clothes, and she had observed Ken's return by way of an upper window that faced the road leading to the house. By the time he and Shijo entered the house, she was standing at the foot of the stairs in the entranceway, arms folded across her chest.

"Is this why you went to the village? To get the boy?" she questioned, intrigued enough by his appearance to momentarily forget her other concerns. "I could have sent for him easily enough."

Ken shook his head, removing his cloak. He handed it to Shijo, who took it from him with a somewhat surprised expression. "No," he said. "I didn't even think of him until I ran into him in the streets."

"It's late enough already," Jun noted, and focused her formidable gaze upon the boy.

Shijo had only spent a limited amount of time with Jun, but he had quickly learned a few important things about her, including that he ought not to hesitate in following instructions. He correctly read this gaze and her suggestion as orders that he was to head to bed, and so he immediately nodded, glancing only once toward Ken in case he might disagree, and then left the hall.

"Did you learn anything, at least?" Jun questioned once the boy had left. Ken shook his head.

"There wasn't any evidence of anything in the forest or the village," he admitted. "I think a mage will need to examine it closely to see if…something can be found."

Jun was frowning, waiting for him to say something more, for she could tell he was leaving something out.

"He'll need to stay here," Ken said after a bit of time had passed in which he had been considering what to say. "I haven't told him, but he's a target as much as anyone. I don't know what good it will do, but he might be safer here than in the village."

"Do you plan on telling him in the future?" she questioned, "or am I to devise some way of keeping him in the house without telling him why?"

"That won't be easy," Wormmon commented.

"Easy?" Jun echoed. "It's likely impossible. The boy doesn't follow orders any better than my brother, and he'll find some time to slip outside, maybe even back to the village for a bit. If we tell him he's a target, he might perhaps listen to advice."

Ken considered this a moment. "Leave him to me," he said. "I'll keep an eye on him."

Jun sighed. "Fine with me," she replied, waving a dismissive hand, and turned to head back up the stairs. A few steps from the top, she paused and turned back.

"If whoever is doing this is targeting people of importance to my brother, you're in as much danger as I am," she noted. "Perhaps you might reconsider taking trips to the village."

Ken frowned. "Perhaps," he replied with a slight shrug.

* * *

It felt to Daisuke as though he had only been sleeping a few moments when a pounding in the distance intruded upon his dreams and called him back to the waking world. He rolled over, pulling the pillow over his head, and squeezed his eyes shut tighter, willing the noise to go away. A short distance away, V-mon mumbled something in his half-awake status.

The pounding sound paused for a few moments, and then started up again, a bit faster than before. With great effort, Daisuke forced his eyes open and saw that the room was still dark around him. He blinked a few times and the darkness came into clearer focus. The pounding continued, and now his half-awake mind realized that it was coming from the door to the room.

He sat up and stumbled through the darkness the short distance to the door. The room was tiny, and he reached it in a few steps. With only one eye half-opened, he pulled the door opened and greeted whoever was there with a yawn. When he'd finished, he blinked in the dim lighting and saw no one.

Had he imagined it? Daisuke took a step forward and looked into the hall, but still saw no one. He blinked a few times, rubbed his eyes, and became aware that his foot had made contact with something near the floor. He looked down and saw Agumon looking up at him with a rather impatient expression.

"It's about time," he said, grumpy perhaps from lack of sleep. "I've been knocking for almost ten minutes. My arms are getting tired."

Daisuke yawned again and blinked at the dinosaur digimon. "What time is it?"

"Hell if I know," Agumon grumbled. "Late enough we all should be sleeping. After midnight. Come on then. I want to get back to bed."

"After midnight?" Daisuke echoed. He yawned again, and turned back into the room.

The spring might be upon them now, but summer was still a ways away, and the nights were cold. The halls of this house were not carpeted, and walking through them without shoes was unwise. A pair of slippers waited on the floor a few steps from the room, and Daisuke slipped his bare feet into these, and took a long sleeved shirt from where he had tossed it on the back of an armchair. He didn't have a robe; this would have to do.

V-mon was sitting up, roused by the commotion. "Where are you going?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

Daisuke would have answered, but he interrupted himself with a yawn. V-mon climbed down from the bed followed him as he shuffled out after Agumon.

Sleepy though he was, the dinosaur digimon wasted no time with conversation or explanations, but took off down the hall at a fairly quick pace. Given all the pounding Agumon had been doing, Daisuke was surprised to find that no one else in the house appeared to be awake. The halls were empty of people, and there was very little noise. He yawned again, the thought of others sleeping making him tired.

Agumon pushed open a door near the end of the hall which had apparently not been shut completely. Daisuke followed him in, V-mon trailing behind the two of them.

"No, it doesn't seem that's true, either," Taichi was saying as the small crowd entered. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, talking to Hikari, who was shaking her head in his direction as though in disagreement with something he had said. At the sound of the door opening, both of them turned their heads toward the entranceway, and Tailmon lifted her head, her bright blue eyes almost glowing in the dim light.

The fire was burning brightly now, making the room significantly warmer than the hall, and Taichi had lit a few candles, so that it was not quite so dark now as it had once been.

Daisuke stood in the doorway, mouth hanging open for a few moments before he stepped completely into the room, shutting the door behind him.

"What's happened?" he questioned. He was directing the question at anyone who might have had an answer, but his eyes were on Hikari, who was looking directly towards him as well. When his question was not answered after a moment, he glanced toward Taichi. "When she awoke before, it was only for a little while. A few moments."

Taichi shrugged. "I don't know. I've been trying to figure that out. The magic that was there before is still there, at least as far as I can tell. Nothing's changed. It simply seems as though, somehow, she has more energy than before."

Daisuke took another step forward, shaking his head. "Spontaneously?" he questioned. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Does anything anymore?" Agumon mumbled grumpily. He'd already climbed into the armchair nearest the fire, and was now well on his way to returning to sleep.

None disagreed with his statement.

Taichi got to his feet. "I was going to ask Agumon if he would wake Miyako," he said, "but I see that would be a bad idea."

Agumon opened one sleepy eye and snorted at his partner. He mumbled something without words that might possibly be a threat.

"Do you suppose this will last?" Daisuke wondered, and then turned toward Hikari. "This…energy…is it temporary?"

Hikari shrugged lightly.

"It seems as though we were right about the spell not letting her speak," Taichi noted. "In any case, I think I'll go and wake Miyako. Maybe she might have more insight than I do."

"I could…," Daisuke began, but Taichi was at the door now, one hand upon the knob.

He shook his head. "No, I'll go. Stay here." He paused in the open doorway and glanced backward with a thoughtful frown. "Maybe that's what she meant."

"What's what who meant?" Daisuke wondered.

Taichi waved a dismissive hand, shrugged, and was gone.

"I'm not awake enough to try to understand this," V-mon mumbled sleepily. He was already climbing up the side of the bed, and now he lay down on his back beside Tailmon, who like her partner, had been silently observing everything. She flicked her tail and twitched her ears, then yawned widely and lowered her head, returning to sleep.

"I'm not sure I would understand even if I was awake," Daisuke said with a sigh. He took the few steps between him and the bed.

As though she had been waiting for him to do so, Hikari turned and reached for him with both arms, taking hold of his hands before he could sit in the nearest chair as he had planned. The action took him by surprise, and he stood still for a moment, looking down at her.

She was smiling as though she had not seen him in some time, with a peaceful, relaxed sort of expression. For a moment, Daisuke felt a bit of some unrecognizable emotion churn in his stomach, but it almost immediately vanished. He squeezed her hands, and then took a step closer to the bed and embraced her.

They stayed like that for a few moments until the sound of footsteps in the hall nearby were heard, and the door opened. Quiet voices were whispering.

"I don't know," Taichi was saying in answer to Miyako's latest question as the door swung open and they entered the room.

"Well then," she was saying as she came in. "I guess I'll have to see for myself, that's all."

* * *

Mid-afternoon, the sun was high in the sky over the plains. A single carriage rolled slowly through the tall grass, heading southward. A pair of Monochromon pulled this carriage, but the addition of an extra digimon didn't do much to speed the journey.

Patamon was enjoying the cool breezes, ostensibly keeping watch from overhead. Truthfully, he eagerly took hold of any excuse to escape the confines of a slow-moving carriage and fly freely in the wind. He circled the cart a few times and then landed upon his partner's head.

Takeru was riding atop the vehicle, partly because the inside was a bit cramped with three other humans (and their three partners), and partly because he didn't wish this driver to face the same fate as the previous driver. The sight of the man, skewered through with a sword, had occasionally returned to him at unexpected moments, and never failed to produce the same feelings of guilt, fear, and nausea in his stomach.

The driver himself was no inexperienced child, however. He was a sturdy man with a cheerful Gotsumon for a partner, and he carried a sword on his belt that he was not unfamiliar with using. Takeru didn't know if such a thing would keep him safe against a group of teleporting mages and swordsmen, but he kept these pessimistic thoughts to himself.

"See anything?" he questioned of his partner as Patamon landed upon his head once more. The day was warm by any standards, the spring sun certain to thoroughly tan the skin of any human out in it for long. In order to keep the sun from his eyes, the driver had worn a wide-brimmed hat, and Takeru had followed suit.

"Nothing much," Patamon reported dutifully. "There's hardly anyone on the road besides us. A farmer's cart some distance back," he gestured with one ear, even though Takeru couldn't see him, "and a few travelers on foot further ahead. Nothing else."

"It's not really a well-traveled route," the driver noted with a shrug. "Further south, as we get closer to the villages, we might see a few more people."

"How long until then?" Takeru questioned. The other man peered upward, judging the position of the sun.

"Another few hours," he replied. "We'll likely be at Motomiya around sunset, perhaps a bit after."

"Are we going to stop for dinner?" Gotsumon questioned, looking up at the others with a bit of eagerness in his eyes.

"I don't think so," Takeru answered. "We'll eat once we get there, I believe."

The rocky digimon didn't bother to hide his disappointment, for like most digimon he was always eager for food. Patamon was more vocal about this, however, and let out a loud groan of disapproval.

"You ate plenty this morning for breakfast!" Takeru scolded, "and a few rolls only an hour or so ago! I should think that would be enough to tide you over until sunset!"

"You would think," Patamon mumbled, "but you'd be wrong."

Takeru had no suitable response to this statement, so he contented himself with frowning in disapproval (which did nothing as Patamon couldn't see his face at all).

"I certainly hope," the digimon said then, "that Jun has dinner waiting, and lots of it, too."

* * *

Miyako was nose deep in some volume of magical spells, indicating to anyone who might have paid attention to such things that she was attempting to distract herself from the problems of the world around her. She had opened the large book to the first page upon first entrance into the carriage that morning, and had proceeded to read continuously for the following few hours.

Since Takeru had opted not to ride within the vehicle, Miyako had an entire seat to herself. It was a long, deep bench with a comfortable cushion on both the seat and the back. She had turned herself sideways, placing her feet upon the seat beside her, and buried her nose in the book almost immediately. Hawkmon, always ready for a nap, curled upon the bench near her feet and fell promptly to sleep.

Daisuke had taken note of this activity with some amount of unhappiness, but had wisely said nothing about it. As Takeru was riding atop the carriage, Hikari had not yet shown any sign of ability to speak, and the digimon were likely to sleep the entire way, he was faced with the prospect of a rather long and quiet ride.

Several hours into the journey, nothing had changed. Miyako had turned quite a few pages in her book and said very little. V-mon, Hawkmon, and Tailmon had slept the entire way, except for a brief period of time in which they woke to eat a few of the rolls brought along for lunch. Hikari would likely have listened with interest to anything that was said around her, but as nothing was said, she had fallen to sleep as well.

Having nothing to say nor do, Daisuke leaned up against the wall and peered out the small window at the scenery. Plains with short grass changed to plains with tall grass. A few trees popped up here and there, and then vanished again. Some rocks, some of which were rather tall, appeared briefly, but were quickly gone. Daisuke found that his eyes were closing, and, as he had no reason to keep them open, he allowed them to fall shut.

He was awakened a short time later by the bumpiness of the road. The carriage wobbled a bit from side to side, causing his head to bang against the wall behind him. Instinctively, he raised a hand to his skull.

Miyako looked up from her book. "The roads aren't very good around here, are they?" she said conversationally.

Daisuke was rubbing the back of his head. "Doesn't seem like it," he replied. Miyako's foray into conversation might have pleased if he had not hit his head a moment before. He noticed then that Hikari was looking at him with a somewhat concerned expression.

There was no blood on his hand, and no bumps on his head, so he concluded that there had been no serious damage. "I'm all right," he told her. "Banged my head, that's all."

She nodded, apparently reassured. Before anything else could be said, however, another sharp bump in the road caused everyone present to bounce a short distance above the seats. V-mon, who had been lying rather near to the edge of the cushion, fell off and landed upon the floor of the carriage with a loud thud.

He sat up, rubbing his head. "Is it too much to ask?" he questioned of no one in particular, and climbed back on to the seat, mumbling to himself.

"Where are we, anyway?" Hawkmon questioned sleepily.

There was another bump in the road at that moment, and again everyone was jolted briefly from their seats. Daisuke peered out the window, but saw nothing besides grass of medium height all around.

"No idea," he replied.

"How far are we from home?" V-mon asked. Daisuke had no answer to this, either.

"We were supposed to arrive around the time it gets dark," he said. "I would guess that means we have a few more hours to go."

Another bump halted conversation for the moment, and then another followed shortly afterward. Miyako sighed, finally shutting her book, and set it on the seat beside her. Another bump in the road shifted everyone toward the windows, and the volume slid to the floor with a crash.

"Maybe I should say something to the driver?" Hawkmon suggested, glancing toward Hikari. She shook her head, however.

"What could he do?" Miyako asked her partner. "He can't fix the roads. It's spring. The roads are always bad this year."

"He might try a bit harder to avoid the bumps," he replied with a shrug. As though on cue, another of said bumps again jolted the passengers.

"I don't know if that's possible," Daisuke stated.

Before anyone could say anything further, the carriage wheels on one side went over yet another bump in the road. The wheels on the opposite side hit a rut in the road at that precise moment, and the whole vehicle titled towards the windows.

There wasn't much time for anyone to utter more than a quick curse or two before the whole vehicle lurched sideways, wobbled for a bit, and then crashed to the ground on its side with a loud thud.

Hawkmon flapped his wings, concluding that being airborne would save him from the effects of the crash. He wasn't able to fly very far, however, because the opposite wall of the carriage was heading toward him. Miyako reached out for him and pulled him close, and, because she was sitting sideways, landed with her back upon the ground.

Tailmon dug her claws into the seat cushions, holding on for dear life as the world turned upside down. V-mon attempted to do the same, but without the claws of a feline digimon he was less successful. He grabbed onto the edge of a cushion wrapped both his arms and legs around it. As it had not been securely attached to the wooden seat frame below it, the glue connecting it began to separate almost immediately. When the carriage landed, he lost his grip and fell to the ground below, landing in the space between the windows.

Daisuke had been sitting in the seat the proper way, and Hikari had been half-sleeping while leaning up against him. When the carriage began to tip sideways, he immediately reached for her, wrapping both his arms around her in an attempt to shield her from the shock.

When they landed, the thin glass windows broke almost immediately, scattering tiny bits of glass all over the carriage, ensuring that no one escaped completely unscathed.

* * *

When it was over, Miyako opened her eyes once more. She could see the door of the carriage above her and for a moment, nothing made sense. For a few moments, she blinked, and then became aware of Hawkmon, who was still in her arms.

"Hawkmon!" she said immediately, and her partner looked up toward her.

"I'm all right," he reported, sitting up. "Are you?"

"I think so," she replied. "What happened?"

"I believe the carriage fell over," Hawkmon replied. "Perhaps the road was worse than we thought?"

"I guess so," Miyako agreed. A bit of something liquid was on her forehead, and she reached up to find that bits of glass had sliced a line across her brow. It didn't appear to be a serious injury, though.

She tested her fingers and hands, and mentally went over her entire body to see if there were any more serious pains. Though her back was aching from the collision with the ground, and her head as well, the damage did not seem to be serious, and so she slowly sat up.

V-mon was lying on the ground a short distance away. His eyes were shut, but he did not look to be seriously injured at first glance, for he was moaning quietly even in his unconscious state.

Daisuke and Hikari had fallen in a jumbled pile a short distance beyond this. Hikari was sitting up, looking to be no worse off than Miyako was. The glass had sliced through her cheek, and a bit of blood was smeared across her face. A few other shards had left scratches upon her arms, but again there was nothing serious.

Daisuke was beneath her, eyes still shut. There was a bit of blood on his forehead as well, though Miyako could not easily see where it was coming from.

"Hikari! Is he - ?" Miyako questioned, and Hikari turned toward her. "Are you - ?"

Hikari shook her head. "We'll be fine," she answered. "Takeru…."

Had been upon the top of carriage, Miyako recalled, a bit of panic suddenly flooding her senses. She muttered a curse under her breath and crawled through the carriage to the door.

It was not easy to open it from below, but a bit of shoving and banging finally forced it open and she slipped through the entrance and fell out onto the ground below.

The road was soft but littered with rocks and stones of various sizes. Miyako landed upon a few of the smaller pebbles and stumbled to her feet. Then, she turned back to face the carriage and survey the damage.


	15. Picking Up Pieces

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Fifteen:** Picking Up The Pieces**

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all characters and money, etc, is not mine. Plot is. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

Even much later, Takeru could not easily say what had happened. He could clearly recall having been atop the carriage, remarking to the driver beside him that the roads in these parts weren't in very good shape.

"Yes," the man had agreed with a frown. "When this trip is done, I'll have to say something about them."

Takeru had wondered who it was that he would need to say something to, but before he had been able to ask that question, the vehicle had tipped sideways.

The cause of it, as near as was able to be determined later, was that the right wheel had connected with a large boulder at the precise time that the left wheel had entered into a rather deep ditch. Thus, the whole carriage was tilted to the left and not been able to tilt back to the right.

Takeru could recall feeling vaguely disoriented, which he later concluded was the result of soaring through the air, and then coming to his senses in the midst of soft, green grass.

He did not lose consciousness, he was fairly sure of that, for he had not hit his head. It was only his backside which was sore from impact with the ground. There was no injury to his skull. All the same, he had sat up in the grass feeling as though he might have been asleep for some time.

Patamon was hovering above him, a rather worried expression on his face. That his partner was still in the air was another piece of evidence in favor of not having lost consciousness, Takeru thought. Nevertheless, he found himself a bit sore when he sat up, and a few more pains groaned at him when he got to his feet.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Patamon questioned, and Takeru waved a dismissive hand.

"Of course I am," he said. "What happened?"

"The carriage tipped over," Patamon replied, gesturing with one paw back toward the road, which was some distance away now.

"How did I get over here?"

"You flew through the air," came the reply, and now his partner's concerned expression grew more serious. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Flew through the air?" Takeru echoed in disbelief. He took a moment to take all this in, and then remembered the driver. Cursing silently to himself, he took off at a run toward the carriage once more.

The driver seemed to be all right, for he was tending to the Monochromon. One of them had fallen to its side, pulled by the weight of the carriage, and both the driver and his Gotsumon were disentangling them from the reins which had caught around them.

The other Monochromon was completely unharmed. It appeared bored by the entire situation, and had decided to take the opportunity to munch some of the grass that grew alongside the road.

The carriage itself had tipped completely sideways, and as Takeru made his way toward it, he saw the door swing open and Miyako stumble out. After a moment, she got to her feet and turned back toward the carriage.

Her eyes caught sight of Takeru almost immediately, and she sighed in visible relief. Takeru crossed the space between them and noticed that she was far worse off than he, for her skirts were torn in several places and a bit of blood was appearing from several scratches on her face and arms.

"You're all right," she said, catching her breath from the exertion of climbing through the cart sideways. "I thought…maybe…."

He shook his head. "I'm all right…somehow. You look worse than me."

Now Miyako shook her head, waving a dismissive hand. "I'm fine. Takeru…."

He nodded. "Sit," he said. "Rest. I'll take care of it."

_After all_, he thought, _I learned healing magic for a reason. It's time I used it._

* * *

When the carriage began to wobble, Hikari had grasped hold of the seat cushions with both her hands, attempting to stabilize herself. Almost immediately, however, she had felt Daisuke wrap his arms around her and pull her close. Instinctively, she closed her eyes, and heard the loud thud as the carriage crashed into the ground. Almost at the same time, the crack of glass breaking sounded, and she squeezed her eyes shut tighter.

She waited for Daisuke to let go, to loosen his grip, thus signaling that it was over and all was well now, but he didn't. Distantly, she could hear Miyako speaking, and Hawkmon answering.

Hikari opened her eyes and saw that the world was lying sideways. For a moment, she didn't move, and in that time she became aware of a few small pains. Hesitantly, she touched one finger to her cheek and found that something, perhaps glass from the broken window, had cut through her skin and blood was already pooling at the surface.

She sat up, somehow willing her tired arms to support her weight, and saw that Daisuke had not let go of her because he had not awakened. Perhaps, she thought, he had hit his head once more, harder this time.

"Hikari!" Miyako said then, and then, apparently noting the state of Daisuke at the moment, added on, "Is he - ? Are you - ?"

She didn't finish either question, perhaps because she couldn't, but Hikari didn't need her to. She shook her head. "We'll be fine," she said.

Things were not so bad, considering that the entire carriage had tipped sideways. If it had been an open cart, they might have been thrown… but there was a part which was open….

"Takeru…," she said, and that was it. That was all the words that she could speak before her voice left her once more. She had barely noticed it had returned before it had gone.

Miyako did not seem to have noticed either. She muttered something under her breath and crawled across the carriage to the door. Hikari watched as she forced the door open and crawled out.

Beneath her, Daisuke was apparently regaining consciousness, for he groaned softly. Somehow, Hikari wasn't sure how, she managed to pull herself off of him and onto the ground beside him. It was a far from easy task, as her legs completely refused to answer any commands, and her arms were tired enough on their own without doing extra work.

Daisuke was opening his eyes and blinking at the twisted world around him when Takeru slid through the door above them and took note of the situation.

"Don't move yet," he said to Daisuke, slipping somehow around Hikari to kneel beside him, ignoring the shards of glass beneath his feet. "Let me see."

Surprisingly, Daisuke obeyed this order. He closed his eyes briefly the way one does when a headache is coming or has arrived, and then opened them once more and looked around him. "Hikari…."

He met her eyes, and Hikari sighed. Had it been but a few moments longer, she thought. She smiled, hoping that this might convey what she could not speak in words; that she was not terribly hurt.

Takeru placed one hand upon his forehead, discouraging further movement. "She's not as bad as you are, I'm sure." He frowned, apparently discovering something not so pleasant in his magical searching, and shut his eyes.

V-mon, too, was coming to his senses, sitting up a short distance away. He moaned loudly, indicating his discomfort. "What happened?" he asked.

"The carriage tipped over," Patamon reported helpfully. "Takeru was flung off the top of it and flew through the air."

Hikari's eyes grew wide at this statement, and Daisuke, too, stared at him. "Flew through the air?" he echoed.

Patamon nodded. "I watched it," he replied confidently. "It was a magnificent flight. Too bad he doesn't have wings, he'd be a good flier."

Takeru was frowning more seriously now, perhaps in concentration, perhaps in disagreement with his partner. Daisuke was aware of a slight cooling sensation in his forehead, and concluded that it must be concentration.

"He's lucky he wasn't hurt more," Tailmon noted with a concerned frown. She twitched her tail once in mild disapproval. "The landing was likely not pleasant."

"Landing," said Patamon with the knowing tone of a flying digimon, "is the hardest part sometimes."

Apparently finishing his task, Takeru opened his eyes, and cast a single look of mild annoyance toward his partner. "I'm quite content to fly only with your assistance," he informed him. Patamon only shrugged.

To Daisuke, he said, "I've fixed the worst of the damage, but you still need to take it easy for a bit. It was a pretty nasty bump on the head, but I'm sure you've had worse."

"You _fixed_ it?" Daisuke echoed.

Takeru sighed. "What did you think a healer does?" he questioned. "If you do too much, you'll undo everything I've done and I'm not going to do it again. Keep that in mind."

"I don't understand," Daisuke went on, sitting up slowly. "How did you _fix_ it?"

Takeru had turned toward Hikari, who was also blinking at him with some surprise. He sighed. "Healing spells," he answered. "The bleeding was caused by some broken blood vessels, which I fixed. That was the worst of it. If you don't rest, you'll undo what I did and cause the bleeding to start again. Bleeding in the head is not good." He sighed once more. "Hikari?"

She nodded, and Takeru now placed his hand upon her forehead and shut his eyes in concentration. After a moment, he opened them again. "You're fine," he concluded with a smile of relief. "A few small scratches, but nothing serious."

Once more Hikari nodded, for she had known this, of course.

"Well," Daisuke said then. "Let's get out of here, then."

"Don't move," Takeru scolded before he could do anything further. "You feel fine now, but if you try to walk you're probably going to feel a bit dizzy. If you fall in here, you'll land on broken glass and do more damage."

Daisuke blinked. "Are you going to carry me then?" he demanded.

"No," Takeru replied. "I'm going to carry Hikari, and then I'm going to come back for you. Don't move until then."

He turned back toward Hikari and lifted her. She put both arms around his neck and peered back over his shoulder toward Daisuke, who was leaning back and shutting his eyes once more, apparently still tired.

Hikari slipped into her own thoughts for a few moments, contemplating recent events. Her voice had returned, but only for a few moments, and that was all that had returned. Her legs had never consented to move, and she had not felt any sort of renewed energy. If spells had been broken, then why had it only been temporary?

This was the sort of thing that Miyako might best be able to answer, for she could _see_ the spells. She would likely be able to easily determine if one had broken, even for a few moments. Of course, without her voice, Hikari could not ask her to do such a thing, and without being asked, why would Miyako do it?

Although she had been eager to attempt to unravel the spells at first, days upon days of trying to do so had only made her tired and frustrated. Something else had also conspired to put her in a bad mood as well. Hikari suspected that this had something to do with Ken's departure, but as she did not know the circumstances of that event, she could not be sure. Daisuke had not mentioned Ken, either, which was a clear sign that it was bothering Miyako.

And so Miyako had buried her nose in a book for the entire journey and ignored or brushed aside the few attempts that Daisuke had made toward conversation. Though it was a magical book that she read, Hikari was fairly certain that her appetite for magical puzzles had abated, at least for the moment.

It was unfair to her, Hikari thought, as she and Takeru emerged from the carriage into the bright sunshine of the afternoon. Miyako was sitting in the grass a short distance away, and she looked quite relieved at their appearance.

"She'll be fine," Takeru said, setting Hikari on the ground beside Miyako. "I'll be right back."

Already, Hikari could feel her energy draining away once more. The small bit of activity she had managed had tired her more than she'd expected. She felt her eyes drooping, and Miyako, seeing this, took hold of her shoulders, trying to prop her up before she fell over.

_That's right_, Hikari remembered then. _Miyako heard me speak. Maybe now, she'll look._

* * *

"Are you _sure_?" Takeru was saying, and Hikari opened her eyes and saw bright flames crackling in a campfire. The sun was setting, and dusk was slowly arriving on the plains. "Absolutely sure?"

"I'm sure," Miyako replied. "Hawkmon, you heard it, too, right?"

"I did," Hawkmon replied, "and neither of us was hit on the head."

"It doesn't make any sense," Takeru said then. "A spell doesn't break on its own and then reform. Does it?"

Miyako shrugged. "Not that I know of."

They had not brought much food along on the journey – only a few rolls and some tea to eat for lunch, and most of that had been eaten. There was tea to drink, however, and a pot of that was heating over the flames.

"It's a good sign, though, isn't it?" V-mon said. "If it did break for a little bit, then that means it could again, right?"

Miyako shrugged again. "I have no idea," she admitted with a sigh. "What I expected of the spell is not what I have seen, and what I have seen, I never could have imagined. It looks almost completely different than it did when I first saw it."

"Different?" Takeru echoed. "How is it possible?"

She shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "Whoever made that spell, whoever cast it, is a far better wizard than I am."

A silence fell over the camp. The water in the teapot began to bubble a bit. Hikari looked up at the stars and considered this for a few moments.

"Maybe not," Daisuke said then. "Maybe he's only using magic in a different way than you do; in a way you're not used to."

"That would be the definition of better," Miyako replied.

"Not necessarily," he disagreed. "Maybe he's only doing it differently. Different doesn't necessarily mean better."

"In this case, it might as well," she returned. "Since I can't figure out what that different way _is_."

_Different_, Hikari thought as Daisuke and Miyako quickly descended into an argument about the definition of the word. _That might be the right way to describe it. Different. _

"Want some tea?" Takeru questioned, and Hikari realized then that he was standing over her, looking down at her with a mug in his hand. "It's hot."

She nodded, and sat up, taking the mug from him as he sat beside her with his own. Near the fire, Daisuke and Miyako were continuing their argument. Hikari took a sip of the tea and found it to be a bit _too _hot, but otherwise delicious.

Takeru was blowing across the top of his mug, attempting to cool it. He sighed, observing the argument as it went on. "I'm not even going to bother to try to stop them," he confided, sipping the tea. "It's probably futile, anyway."

Hikari blinked at him, and then smiled and nodded in agreement. She took another sip of her tea and then looked up at the sky. A few stars were beginning to appear overhead, sparkling distantly.

"Is it true?" Takeru asked. "What Miyako said – that you spoke before?"

She nodded, sipping at her tea again.

"You can't anymore, though?" he went on, and she shook her head. Takeru frowned and took a drink. For a long moment he appeared lost in thought, seeing nothing and saying nothing else.

Miyako and Daisuke had lapsed into silence, having apparently reached a stalemate in their argument. Each was now sitting on opposite sides of the fire, drinking from his or her own mug of tea.

"Maybe," Takeru said then, "it was something about the situation."

"The situation?" Miyako echoed. "What do you mean?"

"Maybe the spell's breaking wasn't a random event, but was triggered by something that was happening around it – an emotion, maybe?"

"Which emotion, though?" Daisuke wondered. He was looking not at Takeru, however, but at Hikari, squinting intently as though by doing so he could figure out what was inside her head.

Hikari blinked, aware of this scrutiny, and suddenly took a long drink of her tea. Takeru glanced toward her and saw, with some surprise, that she was blushing slightly, or at least she might be. It was hard to be certain in the dim light.

"Fear?" Miyako suggested. "She said, 'Takeru,' maybe because she was concerned about you?"

"About _me_?" Takeru echoed blankly.

"You did fly off the roof of the carriage," she pointed out. "I suppose she figured you would probably be worse injured than the rest of us."

"Which turned out to be completely wrong," he noted, frowning in thought. "Still, not a completely illogical reasoning."

Daisuke shook his head. "If that was the case, then why did she not say anything further?" he questioned. When all eyes turned toward him, he went on. "What was it that she said, again?"

"She said 'We'll be fine. Takeru,'" Miyako replied. "The first part was because I asked her if you were both all right. I don't know what made her think of Takeru."

"So if it was concern for Takeru that made her speak, then why didn't she say something _more_?" Daisuke wondered. "Why didn't she say something like 'Takeru was probably thrown off the top of the carriage and might be dead – go help him instead of me.'?"

"She didn't need to," Miyako answered. "As soon as she said 'Takeru,' I thought the rest of it on my own. Why else would she mention his name if not to remind me that he was there?"

"Maybe," he conceded, falling silent.

"Maybe because she couldn't," Takeru pointed out. He was looking toward Hikari again, attempting to gauge her reaction. "Because it wasn't concern for me that motivated the spell to break."

"So what was it, then?" Daisuke wondered. Takeru shrugged.

"So the magic is tied to emotions, is that what you think?" Miyako questioned. "Whatever emotion it was she was feeling at the time, if she felt it again, maybe, stronger…longer…the spell would break completely?"

"Maybe," Takeru replied. Hikari was shaking her head. "No?"

"Wait a minute," Miyako said then, standing up. "You _know_ how to break the spell?"

Hikari blinked in surprise at the question, and then nodded.

Miyako placed one hand on her forehead and sat down again. "Why did I never think to ask her?" she wondered aloud. "Why did no one think of that?"

"Because she can't answer you?" Hawkmon questioned dryly. He had been only half-listening to the conversation, half-sleeping.

"Still, I could guess and she could tell me if I'm right!" Miyako answered him. "At least we know that it's _possible_ to break it!"

"How many options could you guess at?" Daisuke wondered. "That might take forever."

Takeru laughed, apparently finding something amusing. "Tell me," he said. "Is the way to break the spell by drinking a cup of tea and some healing potions?"

"I doubt it's that simple," Hawkmon mumbled sleepily, and Miyako, for once, agreed with her partner.

Hikari shook her head, drinking another gulp of tea.

"Is it by dancing?" he wondered, and she again shook her head, this time fixing him with a confused expression and sighing at the same time.

"She can't dance," Patamon reminded his partner. "She can't even walk."

Takeru shrugged, grinning. "It's a guess," he said. "I'm going to guess every possible option until we find the right one."

"Apparently every impossible option as well," Daisuke noted. "At least pick something that's sensible."


	16. The Calm Before

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Sixteen: **The Calm Before**

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie: **_Digimon_, all characters, etc, is not mine. Plot, however, _is._ In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

* * *

The journey from Hida to the palace took anywhere from two days to more than a week, depending upon weather and the temperament of the Monochromon.

Koushiro arrived late in the evening, three days after his departure. He climbed down from the carriage in front of the main entrance with his single bag in one hand and a book in the other, Tentomon following behind him. He was not completely surprised to see Mimi coming down the steps toward him, a shawl wrapped tightly round her shoulders to ward off the chill of the night.

"Koushiro! You arrived sooner than we had hoped for," she said when she was but a few steps away. "Your journey was quick."

"So it seems," the wizard replied. Having given instructions regarding the rest of his books, he immediately began to head toward the door. Torches and lanterns were lit along the pathway, making it quite easy to see the way. "I came as quickly as was possible. I hope I can be of some help."

"Actually, about that," Mimi said, and he stopped in his tracks for a moment. "It seems that the princess isn't here."

"Isn't here?" he echoed. "Where is she?"

"I believe that she is on her way to Motomiya, if she hasn't arrived already," she answered. "She was due to arrive by nightfall."

Koushiro sighed, placing one hand on his forehead. Talking to Mimi was often an exercise in patience. "In that case," he said, "I am heading to bed."

They had reached the door by now, and he turned to head toward his room. He hadn't taken more than two steps, however, before Mimi called after him. "Actually," she said, and he sighed and turned back.

"Actually?" he echoed, prompting her to continue.

"He wants to see you anyway," she replied with a shrug. "Something about a magical amulet?"

"A magical amulet," Koushiro repeated. "This is urgent?"

"Ah well," Mimi said with a shrug. "He didn't _say_ that, precisely, but maybe it is. You know how he is when it concerns Hikari."

"A magical amulet that concerns the princess?" Koushiro questioned. By now he had absolutely no useful information, and so the only way to sort out the mystery would be to do as she had suggested and go and see the King.

He turned to the nearest servant, a young man who was carrying a pile of books in from the carriage. "Wait," he said, and when he had, he placed the book he had been carrying atop the pile. "Take this as well, if you please."

The servant did not appear pleased about the additional book, but sighed and nodded, then turned around the nearest corner. Koushiro handed the bag to Mimi. "Take care of this, please. Don't touch anything inside it."

"You want me to carry your bags?" Mimi concluded. "Do I look as though I am your maid?"

Koushiro was already a few steps down the hall by the time she had finished speaking. He paused briefly and turned back to her, placing one hand upon his chin as though he was deep in thought. "Actually," he said, "you are looking a bit green lately…rather similar to a Numemon."

The threat of transformation into a Numemon was never one that Koushiro had needed to make good on. Before he had completed turning back toward her, he saw that Mimi was gone. Grinning to himself, he turned back in the direction he had been heading.

"Do you even know how to turn someone into a Numemon?" Tentomon questioned. The wizard shrugged.

"I'm sure that it's only half as difficult as creating a flying potion," he replied. "I believe I did see such a potion once. It would not be so difficult to find it again. Providing, of course, that the book is here and not in Hida…."

Tentomon sighed.

* * *

The sun had only barely begun to rise above the trees on the eastern edge of the village when Alraumon awoke. The bright sun was shining directly into her eyes from the open window. Groaning, the plant digimon rolled over to face the other direction, and returned to sleep.

Jun was standing at the open window, unable to sleep. Her eyes were on the trees in the distance, her thoughts elsewhere. Below, she could see a small crowd of workers, ready to head out to the fields for a day of work. A few carts were already present, and most of the men were sipping hot mugs of tea or some other drink designed to help them wake up. Though the day would likely be warm once the sun had fully risen, it was still cool now, and mostly dark.

If Jun had any hope of catching her father's ear before he left for the day, it would be now. She pulled herself away from the window and slipped her feet into slippers. Ordinarily, she wouldn't want to go about the house in naught but her nightgown, but if she took the time to dress she would miss him. She pulled on a warm robe over her shoulders instead, and hurried out of the room. As the door shut behind her, Alraumon pulled a pillow over her head and tried again to return to sleep, wordlessly mumbling to herself.

The floors were cold in the house, even with the slippers to protect her feet, and Jun wrapped the robe tight around herself to ward off the cold. She half slid down the wooden floors of the hall and forced herself to head down the steps at a bit slower pace. Falling down the stairs would not be the best way to begin the day.

She rounded the corner, narrowly avoiding a few servants who were beginning their day, still sleepy-eyed and yawning. A few of them stepped aside, alarmed by her appearance (she had never been one for early mornings), and the others, who were too sleepy to move out of the way in time, she avoided.

"Lady Jun," one of them called after her. "Is something wrong?"

"Where can I find my father?" she questioned, pausing long enough to wait for an answer. "He hasn't left yet, has he?"

The group shook their heads almost as one, and pointed toward the back of the house. "I believe he is still in his office, milady," the eldest one replied. "Is something wrong?"

She shook her head. "I need to talk to him, that's all," she replied, and was gone round another corner before he could ask another question.

During the planting season, it was very difficult to find Lord Motomiya for more than a few moments of conversation. He and the workers left early in the morning, sometimes before dawn, and did not return until long after sunset, at which point he was quite tired and ready for sleep. Therefore, Jun had not had an opportunity to speak to him about anything of importance (and there were several matters of importance at the moment.)

She reached the door to her father's office at the exact moment that it was shutting behind a tall, dark haired man who was leaving. Noting her presence, he took a step backward, intending to allow her room to travel down the hall, but she stopped instead.

"Is my father still here?"

"He is within, milady," the man replied, obviously confused. "We are to leave in a half hour; he is going over paperwork and…."

"Good. I need to see him," she said, and stepped past him to the door.

Lord Motomiya had made his office on the first floor of the house, rather close to the kitchens. At all times of the day, it was possible to smell quite clearly whatever was cooking nearby. For the workers, a bit of porridge was all that was required, but almost as soon as this had been doled out, they'd begun work on a more elaborate meal that would be served to the rest of the house. Ordinarily, Jun would not have awakened for a few hours more.

The office itself was a small but efficient room. A single window opposite the door overlooked a section of the gardens, and a small wooden desk and chair were placed in front of it. Bookshelves, filled with ledgers and papers of financial accounts, lined the walls and made the small room seem even smaller. A small fireplace was nestled in between the bookshelves on one wall, and a single ancient, dusty armchair was placed before it. The armchair was rarely occupied.

Lord Motomiya himself was sitting at the chair behind the desk, a mug of hot tea resting near to his right hand. At the moment, however, said hand was scribbling quickly in a ledger. Though he had heard the door open, he did not look up immediately, for fear of loosing his place in the book.

Jun waited a moment, unwilling to interrupt him, and then, remembering that she did not have much time to spare, said, "Father, I need to talk to you."

He looked up, surprised by the sound of her voice, and stopped writing. He set down the pen and nodded.

* * *

Midmorning, Koushiro had nearly disassembled his entire bookshelf. A pile of no less than ten books was now upon the table in his workspace, and another pile of equal height was beside it. Tentomon, perched atop a nearby stool, wondered if the ancient piece of furniture would hold very much more.

The object of the wizard's concern for the moment was an ancient metal chain which now rested in the middle of the same table. It was long enough to be worn as a necklace – indeed that seemed to be the purpose of its design – and in the middle of it was a rather large red jewel of some sort.

At first glace, it had appeared to be nothing more than a piece of ancient, gaudy jewelry, but having held it in his hand a few moments, Koushiro could recognize it easily for what it was. It was a teleportation crystal.

"Do you know how it works? Where it might have come from?" Taichi had questioned when Koushiro had reported this information.

Though he had never seen one close up before, the wizard was able to answer some of these questions. "Crystals are generally used to focus magical power," he'd replied. "Teleportation crystals are designed to focus magical power in such a way as to make teleportation possible."

Ordinarily, he'd explained, casting a teleportation spell required several mages with a bit of expertise. The one who was to be transported usually had stand in the center of a circle of mages, and only by combining these powers was it possible to produce enough magical energy to teleport even one person.

"Of course, it's possible to do it otherwise, by drawing upon other energies of people – even those without magic – or of things or places. It takes a lot of skill, however. With a crystal, none of that skill is required. With this crystal, even an amateur mage could transport instantly across the kingdom or around the world."

"Do you know where it's come from?" Taichi had then asked, after having thought about this information for some time.

Koushiro had studied the crystal for a few moments before answering. "I can find out," he'd replied confidently.

* * *

It was almost noon when the battered, beaten carriage rolled to a stop at Motomiya. The windows on one side of the vehicle were completely smashed, and there was now no glass at all. The same side was covered with dirt and a bit of grass. One of the wheels was dented slightly, so that it rolled in a rather uneven manner.

A small crowd had noted the approach of the vehicle from the village, and by the time it halted, the crowd had grown from three idle servants to a crowd of nearly twenty.

The door was lucky enough to be located on the opposite side of the carriage from the side that was damaged, but even so it creaked loudly as it swung open.

Miyako climbed down first and held the door open as Daisuke climbed down as well, carrying Hikari. Takeru, who had been riding atop the vehicle along with the driver, also climbed down. All four of them were looking tired and slightly dirty from what had undoubtedly been a long and eventful journey.

The bags, piled atop the carriage, had luckily not been damaged badly, and none of their contents lost. The driver, having finished his task, set to work unloading the bags, tossing each one down to Takeru, who was waiting below.

"Move aside! Move aside!" came a voice from the back of the crowd, and a moment later Jun herself squeezed through to the front. "Don't any of you have work to do?" she questioned, narrowing her eyes at the crowd.

Most of them fled instantly, leaving a few stragglers behind. She pointed toward the closest one with one hand, and then gestured toward the bags, which were now mostly in a pile near the carriage. "Tend to those. You," and she pointed toward another one. "Help with the Monochromon."

Immediately, they set to work, and in a short time, the Monochromon were being led to the stables, and the bags were halfway into the house. The visitors were left standing in the middle of the dusty path, blinking in surprise.

Daisuke held back a laugh, which was his first instinct. After the vision he had seen of his sister's funeral, it was quite a relief to see her alive – and quite vibrantly so. All the same, it was never wise to risk her fury in such a manner.

"It's about time you've come," she said, obviously not having relinquished her unhappiness at the sight of her brother. "I've had to deal with everything around here, and it seems it's all your fault."

As one, the spectators turned toward Daisuke, expecting perhaps for him to argue this accusation. Hikari, too, turned and looked up at him. For a moment, there was silence, and then he shrugged as best is possible when one's arms are full.

"It might be," he said amiably, sighing.

"Is there food?" V-mon interrupted before Jun could say anything further. "I haven't eaten since yesterday, and I'm _starving_."

"So am I!" Patamon agreed from his partner's head before Takeru could silence him. Tailmon, half-asleep in Miyako's arms, looked up with interest at the mention of food.

"Of course there's food," Alraumon said, appearing from behind her partner's skirts. "There is always food here."

"Thank goodness," V-mon said.

* * *

The dining room was not truly intended for such tired and dirty occupants, but hunger was, for the moment, more of a concern than cleanliness. After all, things could always be cleaned. The digimon, certainly, were quite adamant that food must always come before baths, and their partners were not inclined to disagree. Thus, the small group filed into the dining room and took seats at the large, spotless table.

Feeling a bit out of place, Takeru took a seat at the table, and Miyako sat next to him. He caught her eye momentarily and she shrugged, as though to say that hunger was hunger and it couldn't be helped. Opposite them, Daisuke carefully set Hikari down into a chair and then pulled back the one beside her so that he could sit as well.

"You're hurt," Jun said, noting then for the first time a thin red line across his forehead; all the physical evidence that remained of the previous day's injuries. "Were you attacked on the way here? The carriage was…." She trailed off, letting the state of the vehicle speak for itself.

"No, it was only an accident," he answered. "The carriage tipped on its side, and I hit my head. Nothing serious, at least since Takeru was there." He grinned across the table toward Takeru, who shrugged modestly.

"It probably wouldn't have killed you either way," he said.

Jun frowned and took a seat at the table. At that precise moment, the door opened and a few servants filed in, carrying plates of food and drink, which they set down on the table. Almost before the plates had reached the table, V-mon was eating, and the others followed not long after.

When he had eaten enough to fight off the strongest hunger pangs, Takeru swallowed a gulp of his drink. "Is my brother still here?" he questioned.

"He is," Jun replied. "He and Ken went to the village this morning; something about investigating the forest again. They've gone almost every day or night since they've been here, and they haven't found anything. Ken said that they'll need a mage to look at it more closely, so I assume that means they'll want you to go soon." She glanced toward Miyako as she spoke.

Miyako paused in eating long enough to take a drink. "They're there now?" she questioned, and then took another bite of food.

"They might well be on their way back by now," Jun answered with a shrug. "I don't think they intended to stay for long."

Miyako took another long gulp of her drink and then set the empty glass down upon the table. She pushed back her chair and got to her feet. "I'm going now," she said. "Thank you for the food."

"Wait," Takeru interrupted. "Are you sure you should go alone?"

"_I'm_ not in any danger, remember?" she replied, already at the door. "So long as Daisuke remembers that he doesn't like me, all will be fine."

"Oh, I won't forget," Daisuke replied in between bites.

"Good. Then I'm safe," Miyako said with a smirk. "Come on Hawkmon."

Her partner had not quite eaten his fill, but he sighed and hopped down off the chair he'd been sitting on. "Coming, coming," he said, and then they were gone.

"No matter what you say, you won't be able to stop her," Daisuke said to Takeru, who was looking at the door with a bit of concern. "There's no point in going after her."

"Is there really going to be some sort of danger?" Jun wondered. He shrugged.

"Maybe, maybe not. I don't think she's really motivated by fear of danger." He stuffed another bite of food into his mouth, and then swallowed a gulp of his drink.

* * *

Walking, it might have taken a few hours to reach the forest at the edge of the village – perhaps less if Miyako had hurried. Upon the back of Aquilamon, however, the journey was significantly shorter.

They landed upon the riverbank at the edge of the village, and Aquilamon de-evolved immediately. There was a single bridge crossing the water, and Miyako made her way towards that.

"Are you sure they're inside?" Hawkmon questioned, flapping quickly to keep up with her.

"Yes," she answered, having already reached the opposite side of the river. "I'm sure of it, and…."

She'd paused, mid-step, only a short distance from the edge of the bridge. For a moment, she stood completely still.

"Miyako?" Hawkmon questioned, having finally reached her side. "What's happened? What's wrong?"

"Teleportation," she mumbled. "Damn."

* * *

"It's not exactly the best we have, but it'll be easier than having to carry her up and down stairs," Jun said, pushing open the door to the small first-floor bedroom. She crossed the room immediately and set Tailmon down on the bed. The feline digimon yawned widely and fell immediately to sleep once more.

It was only slightly larger than the tiny room they had left behind further north. Though the furniture was old and obviously had not been used in some time, it was comfortable. The curtains had once been a dark red color, but now, paled from years in the sun, were almost pink. The bed was draped with a canopy of the same color, only slightly darker, and the blankets and sheets matched it. All was clean, however, having been washed and scrubbed the day before.

Hikari was already half asleep, Daisuke noted as he set her down upon the bed. She didn't bother with trying to stay upright, but sank down amidst the pillows immediately, leaving him to remove her shoes.

"Is she all right?" Jun asked quietly.

"Exhausted," he answered, setting her shoes down on the floor beside the bed and pulling the sheets around her. "But better than before." He stood for a moment, looking down at her, and then sighed, and turned back toward his sister.

Jun, standing at the foot of the bed, watched Hikari sleep, and was completely unprepared when Daisuke took a step forward and unexpectedly wrapped both his arms around her and hugged her. She could not remember the last time they had done such a thing – perhaps at their mother's funeral?

Jun sighed and relaxed, leaning forward to rest her head upon her brother's shoulder. For a long moment, there was silence, and a thousand thoughts ran through her head, all without words, only feelings.

"She's going to be all right," she said then, and he sighed heavily.

* * *

The next chapter will have some action, in case you hadn't guessed that already.


	17. Ancient Mysteries

**The Ancient Curse**

* * *

Part Seventeen: **Ancient Mysteries**

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie: **_Digimon_, all characters and money, etc, is not mine. Plot is. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

* * *

"Well, maybe coming here _was _a waste of time," Yamato said with a sigh, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He absently kicked the root of a nearby tree, venting his frustration. "This forest is our only lead to the source of the attack, but there's nothing here." He kicked the tree again.

"There has to be _something_," Ken disagreed. "It's only that we can't detect it. Maybe it's hidden with magic."

Gabumon was sniffing at the base of the same tree, perhaps having detected some sort of interesting scent. He frowned thoughtfully. "There have been humans here recently," he stated after a moment.

The others considered this for a bit. "What about Ogremon?" Yamato questioned of his partner. Gabumon shrugged.

"I don't think so," he replied. "But I can't be certain. The scents are all mixed together. There was _something_ here that was not human, but I'm not sure when or what it was."

"Well," Yamato said after a moment of thought. "I suppose we ought to head back, since there isn't anything here." He shrugged absently and turned to head back to the river and the village beyond it.

He'd taken no more than a few steps, however, when the sharp blade of a sword directly in front of his face caused him to stop. Looking up, Yamato saw that a swordsman, dressed entirely in black, was standing in his path.

Before he could speak, or anything could be said, the man pulled back his arm, swinging the sword in a wide arc that was obviously intended to connect with the neck of his target. Yamato took a step backward, quickly drawing his own sword as he narrowly avoided losing his head. He took a second step backward, raising his weapon, and the swords connected with a solid clink that rang out in the otherwise silent forest. Before anything else could happen, his opponent vanished in the blink of an eye.

He turned sharply, seeing no one else around, and saw that Ken had also drawn his sword, though he had not had a chance to use it yet. "Did I imagine it?" he questioned. Ken shook his head.

"No, they were here. We must be on to something if they've come after us." He did not sheathe his sword once more, but turned his head to the left and right. "They'll return, I think, if we don't leave."

"Are we planning to leave?" Wormmon wondered.

"Now that we're on to something?" Yamato questioned. "Definitely not! I'm hoping they return!"

For a long moment, however, they did not return, and Yamato reluctantly sheathed his sword, to make it easier to move around, though he kept one hand upon the hilt. He took a few steps away, carefully avoiding both the tree roots and rocks that were in his path.

"On your left!" Ken said abruptly, surprising him, and Yamato turned sharply, raising his sword in time to block another sword which came from above. Immediately, however, the swordsman vanished.

Yamato turned sharply, expecting another attack, and saw that the swordsman was instead appearing in the space behind Ken. He opened his mouth to call out a warning, but before anything could be said, Ken turned sharply and blocked the blow which was coming.

A second swordsman appeared in the same moment in which the swords were crossing, and a third a half-second later. Yamato had taken a step forward, preparing to fend off the second swordsman, but the third blocked his path. The second raised his weapon to strike as Ken pulled away from his first opponent with barely enough time to deflect the second.

"Gabumon!" Yamato shouted, and heard the answering call of his partner over the sound of blades and the wailing of his digivice.

"Gabumon evolve! Garurumon!"

A bright light interrupted all battles for a brief moment, and then the large blue and white striped digimon leapt into the center of it all. He raised one massive paw and sent the nearest swordsman flying. It vanished in midair before it could hit the tree, but almost immediately, another appeared nearby – or perhaps it was the same one, returned. As they were all dressed exactly the same, it was impossible to tell them apart.

"It might be that there are too many for us to handle," Yamato shouted over the sound of battle. In answer, he heard not the sound of Ken's voice, however, but the sound of another evolution.

"Wormmon evolve! Stingmon!"

They were surrounded now by a dozen swordsmen, each one with sword raised. For a moment, they paused, and then another two appeared, completing the circle.

"Well, you wanted excitement," Garurumon commented. Yamato raised his sword, preparing for attack.

"I did," he replied. "I have to say that this is much more interesting than filing paperwork."

That was all that there was time to say before the fourteen swordsmen leapt in unison, raising their swords in silence. They vanished and reappeared at the precise points required to attack.

Yamato felt a sharp pain in his left leg, above the knee, and another pain in his right arm, above the elbow, at almost the same time. He gritted his teeth and raised his injured arm to block a third sword from making contact with his neck. A loud clang echoed in the forest as two swords met his own, and then the swordsmen vanished. Garurumon, having swiped ineffectually at another of the fighters, moved in front of his partner to shield him from further attacks.

"You're hurt!" the large digimon said in alarm. Yamato glanced down at his right arm and saw that a line of blood had appeared where the blade had apparently sliced through his sleeve and into his arm. He frowned.

Ken had apparently been luckier – or perhaps it was only that Stingmon, with the advantage of wings – was quicker. He didn't appear to be hurt. There was no time to say anything further, however, because a few moments after they had disappeared, swordsmen reappeared.

Yamato turned, allowing his partner to face the majority of the fighters, and struck out his sword toward the nearest black shape to his arm. He felt his blade make contact with something, but before he had time to determine what it was, it had vanished once more. There was blood on the tip of his sword, however, and he took this as a good sign.

A half-second later, the enemies had returned, and, then a half second after that again. Though he could not clearly see what was happening, Yamato thought he could hear grunts of pain from both his allies and his opponents. His sword was dripping a great deal of blood now, and a great deal dripped from his arm as well.

Suddenly, everything stopped. A sword, raised in midair, came into contact with something invisible. Yamato found that his eyes had time enough to focus that he could see a black-clad swordsman a step away from him. The fighter's sword was raised above his head, and his arms were positioned in such a way as to indicate that he intended to bring the blade down. This had not happened, however, because the blade had struck something invisible.

"A shield?" Yamato wondered, his mind having spun through the few possibilities in an instant. The swordsman vanished as quickly as he had appeared, as did all his allies.

Garurumon de-evolved, and a short burst of light behind him told Yamato that Stingmon did the same. Feeling weary, he let his legs collapse beneath him, causing his partner some alarm.

"Yamato!" Gabumon said, worry evident in his eyes.

"I'm all right," he replied, though he was breathing heavily. He wiped his brow with the back of his sword hand, for he had not yet put away his weapon. "It's nothing serious." He turned his head toward Ken, who was standing a short distance away. "Did you do that?"

Ken shook his head, frowning. A thin red line was cut across his cheek, dripping blood onto his face, but he otherwise appeared to be in far better shape than Yamato. "No," he answered. "Miyako's nearby."

She was indeed, for at that moment she appeared a short distance away, at the top of a small rise of land. She was lifting her skirts in one hand, maneuvering over a large tree root, Hawkmon hovering behind her. Seeing those she had been looking for, she paused briefly to rest.

"Where did you come from?" Yamato asked, and Miyako pointed back toward the village.

"We only arrived this morning," she replied, "Takeru, Daisuke, Hikari, and I. It looks like I've come just in time."

"I thought you were coming last night," Ken said, sheathing his sword. "There was a delay?"

"An accident," she answered, climbing over the last branch. "Bad roads made the carriage tip over. Nothing insidious, it seems."

He considered this for a brief moment, then crossed to Yamato and offered a hand. With some effort, Yamato got to his feet. It was significantly more difficult to get up than it had been to sit down, for his left leg was aching now. He looked down and saw that blood had appeared there as well.

"Can you make it back all right?" Miyako asked, noting his injuries. "I could fly you if need be."

He shook his head before she'd finished speaking. "I'll manage," he replied, finally putting away his sword. "Since you're here, you might as well take a look at this forest."

Miyako blinked, then turned her head from side to side. "What am I supposed to be looking at, exactly?" she wondered.

Ken and Yamato exchanged glances briefly. "Can you detect anything hidden?" Ken asked. "Anything that might suggest that there is or was something more here than there seems to be?"

He was frowning slightly, and breathing heavily from the exertion of the fight, and he held her gaze a moment longer than necessary. Miyako understood; he had felt _something_, but he did not wish to explore it further. She glanced toward Yamato, who was bleeding rather profusely now, and breathing more heavily than Ken.

"Are you sure we shouldn't head back right away?" she asked. Yamato waved a hand.

"I'll be fine, I said," he replied. "This won't kill me."

Sighing, Miyako removed the glasses that were perched on the tip of her nose, and focused her magical sight. A barrage of colors swirled in the air, surprising her slightly. She had been expecting the auras of the others to assault her vision, but there was other magic here. Frowning to herself, she turned and took a few steps away from Ken and Yamato so that she could see more clearly.

"I'd wager she sees something," Gabumon noted sagely, for she was frowning quite intently at what seemed to be nothing. No one disagreed.

There was magic in the air, and it appeared to be everywhere. Swirling colors floated in the air, every hue of the rainbow. There was no source, and no point at which it dissipated. Miyako reached out one hand and extended her magical senses to touch the magic she saw.

She shut her eyes, absorbing the feel of it.

There was ancient magic here; as old as the oldest magic she had ever sensed; but it was buried under spells that had been woven quite recently. There was a bit of darkness there, but nothing quite so powerful as to suggest a dark wizard of the black arts. No, she decided, the magic, both old and new, was woven by a wizard whose heart had hardened through the years. There was sadness and anger, but it was not all-consuming.

"It's complex," she mumbled quietly, barely loud enough for the others to be heard. "Vertical pattern here, diagonal laced under, horizontal beneath…at least ten layers."

"What was it meant to do?" Yamato questioned.

"I'm not sure," Miyako admitted. "There are elements of different spells mixed in. The first layer feels like a hiding spell, the second a transference spell. The ones beneath that are too obscured for me to see clearly." She shook her head briefly. "This is different magic."

"Different how?" Ken wanted to know.

"It doesn't use any clear spells, but elements of several different ones," she answered, turning back to face the others now. "It's as though whoever made this took parts of different magics and made his own."

There was a moment of silence as the others considered this.

"Also," Miyako went on, frowning absently at the air beside her, looking at something they could not see. "There are emotions mixed in. Whoever made this has some very deep feelings."

"Is it the same person who put the spell on the princess?" Hawkmon questioned.

"I believe so," she answered, "or, if not, at least someone who learned nearly everything from that person."

* * *

The sun was slowly sinking in the western sky, casting shadows across the land. In a room beneath the castle which somehow managed to appear both large and small, empty and cluttered, Koushiro the wizard had his nose buried in a large volume.

There was a creak as the door opened, and Mimi hesitantly poked her head into the room. Candles were lit, but worn down to nearly their ends. A blazing fire burned in the fireplace, and a pot of something bubbled there. A smaller teapot was set nearby, also heating something over the flames. Koushiro himself was seated at a stool near the table, half-invisible behind a large book.

Mimi stepped quietly in, knowing that the wizard likely had no idea she was there, and shut the door silently behind her. A box of candles was kept on shelf near the door, and she located it easily. Without speaking, she used the flames of the old candles to light the new ones, and then sat down on the stool across the table from the wizard.

Koushiro glanced up briefly, a thoughtful expression on his face, and noticed his visitor. He blinked a few times, surprised, and then sighed. "How long have you been sitting there?"

"Not long," she answered. "You know, being a wizard, I might expect you to come up with some better security. Surely it can't be good for people to sneak up on you so easily."

He shrugged, gesturing to the shelf behind him, upon which his partner was napping, as usual. "I'm sure Tentomon would warn me if there was any danger," he replied.

Mimi blinked at the sleeping digimon and sighed. "If he were awake, perhaps," she said. Then she shrugged. "In any case, I have been sent to see if you have made any progress."

"Sent?" Koushiro echoed blankly.

She nodded, absently glancing at the pendant on the table a short distance away. Curious, and drawn by the shiny red stone in the center, Mimi reached toward it and ran her fingers over the smooth gold setting. "He would come himself, but there's this meeting with one of the Piyomon about compensation agreements, and Piyomon hate to be kept waiting. After that, there's a representative from the Northern Ogremon tribe, just arrived, to give a report on the rebels. Then, there's dinner with the trade ambassador of the Western Isles to discuss the price of cloth, and after that I'm sure he'll be exhausted. So, I have come."

"If he's so busy all day, when will you report your findings?" Koushiro wondered.

Mimi shrugged. "There's a half hour gap, or at least there should be, if all goes well, between the Ogremon meeting and the dinner with the trade ambassador. If not, I'm sure I can fit it in afterward. Or it might wait until tomorrow if you've had no success."

"Have you become the King's personal secretary?"

Sighing, Mimi set aside the necklace. "Sometimes it seems I am," she confessed. "I'm the only one that can keep the schedule straight. Half the time, he's no idea what he's doing with the day, and the clerks Yamato has running the place are no less clueless. Sora used to handle some of it, but now Jyou has told her she's to rest." She shrugged. "I'm not so skilled as Iori, of course, but it doesn't seem he's coming back."

"Doesn't seem so, no," Koushiro replied, thinking of Hida. It seemed as though it had been much longer since Iori had gone there, and yet it was only a short time. He frowned absently, lost in thought.

"Well," Mimi said then, interrupting his reverie. "Have you made any progress?"

The wizard sighed. "History," he replied, "has never been my strong suit, but I have a few books on the matter. I have been able to determine that the gold most likely came from the mines in the Western Isles, perhaps as long ago as two hundred years. The jewel in the center I'm less certain about, but I believe it was mined somewhere on the Eastern Continent."

"Is it also old?"

He shrugged. "Most likely. The magic used to make it effective as a tool for teleportation is at least two hundred years old as well."

"It lasts that long?" Mimi asked, surprised.

"If it's not used overmuch," he answered. "I would guess it wasn't, because it seems to still work quite well. Teleportation crystals are formed by a skilled mage who uses magic to carve pathways in the center of the stone. You can't see them without magical sight, but anyone with magic can feel them if they search hard enough."

"And then a mage puts his own energy into the crystal?" she concluded.

"Right. The magic flows through the pathways and is not only enhanced, but also shaped into the right form. This means that whoever uses it doesn't actually have to _know_ a teleportation spell; only needs to have enough magic to power it."

Mimi nodded, absorbing the information. "So whoever made this crystal is likely dead, since it was made a long time ago."

"So it seems," the wizard answered. "The good news is that there weren't many places in the world making magical crystals two hundred years ago. The bad news is that since the gold comes from the west and the jewel likely comes from the east, that doesn't really narrow down the location. Also, if it _was_ made two hundred years or more ago, it's going to be fairly difficult to figure out how it came to be where it is now."

* * *

Despite Yamato's claims to health, the walk to and through the village was a long one. Before long, he was limping, and blood was spewing faster from the wound on his leg, even though he had tied a handkerchief around it to keep that from happening. Another cloth, ripped from the back of his shirt, had been tied around the slash in his arm.

They paused to rest in the village center. Crowds were mingling at shops, vendors were haggling loudly over prices, shouting over the sound of conversations around them. Noting a bench nearby, Miyako pointed toward it and nodded, for it was far easier than trying to be heard over the commotion.

"Are you sure you don't want to fly back?" she asked when they had sat down, but again Yamato shook his head and waved a dismissive hand.

"I can make it fine," he answered. "There's no need."

"Well at least maybe we could hire a cart?" she suggested. "You're not going to make it up the hill." Miyako gestured with one arm behind her towards their destination. The house was indeed at a higher elevation than the village, and walking up to it would be a bit difficult.

Yamato followed her gaze toward the hill, and considered this for a moment.

Ken had wandered off, and returned now with a canteen filled with clear, cold water. Wordlessly, he handed the jug to Yamato, who drank a long gulp of it. Though the day was not terribly warm, he was sweating a bit, which was likely a sign of his exertion.

"All right," he said finally, setting down the canteen and leaning back against the back of the bench. "Find a cart. I'm not eager to fly."

"Shouldn't be hard," Hawkmon observed. The square was half-filled with the traffic of carts, some filled with goods and some emptied, going in all directions. "We only need to find one that's going the same way we are."

"That's easier said than done," Miyako noted. For a long moment, she silently watched the traffic as it moved through the square in all directions. Pedestrians, shoppers and vendors alike, moved out of the main thoroughfare, avoiding carts and carriages and the large Monochromon that pulled them.

Suddenly, over the general hubbub of the square, a voice could be heard shouting, "Stop! Thief! Stop him!"

Yamato sat up straighter, squinting through the crowd of people, for the source of the voice. A few screams could be heard in the crowd, gasps and shouts of alarm as the thief evaded his pursuers and likely injured a few passers-by in the process.

"Do you see him?" Yamato questioned.

"Don't think of going after him!" Gabumon scolded his partner.

"There he is!" Hawkmon said, pointing with one wing at a human, dressed entirely in black, who was hurrying through the crowd. A group of men and their Gotsumon partners was chasing after him. Several shoppers were knocked to the ground who did not quickly step aside as the chase proceeded.

"Something odd about that thief…," Yamato said thoughtfully as the chase came toward them. "Something familiar…wait!" He stood up abruptly, the pain in his leg momentarily forgotten. "It's the same!"

"What?" Miyako questioned, and turned toward him, confused. "Same as what?"

"Can you stop him?" he asked, ignoring her question. "With magic?"

She stared at him blankly for a moment, then shrugged. "I suppose," she answered, sighing, and raised her right hand.

Exactly what it was she did Yamato was never quite clear on – the intricacies of magic were mostly lost to him – but the would-be thief ran smack into a wall of nothing. For a few moments, he struggled, but it did not seem as though he was capable of freeing himself from whatever magical bindings she had set upon him.

"There," Miyako said. "Easy enough. Ken? Where are you…?"

Ken had taken a step forward, a curious frown upon his face, and now he walked toward the center of the square. A crowd was already forming around the thief, making it difficult to get close enough to see the man clearly. The men with the Gotsumon partners, apparently charged with the apprehension of the thief, were arriving now, panting heavily from the running.

"Step aside!" said the leader of these men, pushing a path through the crowd. The onlookers reluctantly cleared a space for him to pass through.

"Who do you suppose he is?" Wormmon questioned quietly, in a voice that only Ken could clearly hear.

"I don't know," Ken answered.

They were close enough now to clearly see the man. He was standing in an odd position, his arms frozen, bent at his sides, as though he had paused mid-step, while running. He was dressed entirely in black, and his face, like those of the swordsmen in the forest, was almost completely obscured by some sort of black covering that hid all but his eyes. At his waist was a sword, attached to a black belt, but he had not drawn his weapon during his attempted escape.

Upon his head was a wide-brimmed, black hat, the shadow of which hid his eyes and the parts of his face which were not covered.

"Around his neck," Wormmon noted in a whisper, and Ken saw then that a red jewel set into a gold necklace hung around his neck. It was likely originally intended to be hidden beneath the thief's shirt, but the run through the square had caused it to dislodge, and it was now clearly visible.

"Well now," the leader of the men with the Gotsumon was saying. "It seems our luck is upon us, boys. We have finally caught him."

The crowd was quiet, filled with whispers of astonished interest. It was then that Ken recognized the man. He had been charged with security within the village for many years now, but he had never been particularly good at his job, for Motomiya was quite well known as a den of thieves.

"What do you mean, you have caught him?" a woman's voice said then, clearly heard over the crowd. Almost as one, all the heads in the crowd turned to see Miyako pass through an opening in the wall of people. She had one hand upon her hip, and an indignant expression upon her face. "As I recall, it was my spell which did the work."

The leader grinned amiably and rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, indeed. Milady, we are most grateful for your help. We've been trying to catch this rascal for years and haven't succeeded."

"For years?" Hawkmon said, peering from behind his partner's skirts. "You've been trying for years to catch one thief?"

The man did not seem upset by this thinly veiled insult. He shrugged, forcing a few barks of nervous laughter. "Ah, but he's hardly one thief, you see," he replied. He waved one arm toward the man in question. "He's the mysterious, long-feared Dark Bandit!"

A gasp fell over the crowd, and then almost immediately the sounds of voices grew louder. Some of them were protesting – this could not possibly be the same bandit – and others were cheering the apparent victory. Ken briefly glanced toward Miyako, who was staring wide-eyed, mouth agape, at the head of security, speechless.

Taking her silence to be appreciative wonderment, the man with the Gotsumon was laughing triumphantly, patting his cohorts on the back and grinning widely. The crowd of them was quite pleased with itself; the Gotsumon cheering and hugging each other and their partners.

"An interesting reaction, don't you think?" Ken said quietly to his partner. Wormmon was much less amused by the scene.

"To think," he sputtered, "that they actually believe that impostor is the real thing! As though the Dark Bandit could be caught so easily! As though the Dark Bandit was a common thief of bread!"

"It's a good enough disguise to fool a lot of them," he replied calmly, shrugging. "It's been a few years, after all, so they might not remember so clearly. In any case, it hasn't fooled everyone."

This did not manage to placate Wormmon, who was quite insulted on his partner's behalf. He muttered a few more things under his breath, too quiet to be heard.

Before anything else could be done or said, however, the thief vanished. There was no puff of smoke, no flash of light. He was simply there one moment and gone the next. The leader of the men had been preparing to unmask the thief, the cap to his moment of triumph. All eyes had been upon the thief and his adversary, and then the thief was gone.

A loud gasp of shock once more sounded from the crowd of onlookers, shortly thereafter followed by a renewed bout of commentary.

"I knew he'd get away!" a young woman was saying a short distance away. "It's not so easy to catch him as that!"

"It wasn't him to begin with, I'm sure of it. I remember him being taller," an old man was saying, muttering under his breath.

"I don't remember him stealing loaves of bread," his Piyomon agreed.

"What's more to be expected from our security?" a young man grumbled loudly. "A well-known bandit delivered into their hands, and they cannot keep him!"

"That's right!" shouted his partner, a Plotmon with an unusually strong set of vocal chords. "We need better security! Oust these fools, I say!"

Before long, the crowd was loudly calling for the resignation of the security chief, and a few of the villagers were already planning to take their case to the Lord himself. The chief himself was getting rather nervous, and chaos was beginning to break out.

Ken would likely have stayed and watched the whole proceedings, for he had never much cared for the chief of security and very much liked to see what the crowd would do to him. Before long, however, Miyako had located him in the crowd, and, grabbing hold of his arm, pulled him away before anything of interest could happen.

"We have to get Yamato some sort of medical attention," she reminded him. "You're not going to find out anything interesting here."

He shrugged amiably. "I only wanted to see what they would do to him," he replied. "The thief had a teleportation crystal. I think he must have been working with the same group that attacked in the forest."

Miyako looked at him with a serious expression. "Of course he was," she replied, "and he'll be back a dozen times, stealing loaves of bread and chunks of meat, and whatever other petty crimes he can manage, because he's obviously an impostor, and he's obviously trying to draw out the real Dark Bandit."

By this time, they had reached Yamato once more. The bench at which they had left him was by now quite far away from the crowd, which was moving away from them, loudly calling for the security chief's resignation.

"So it wasn't the real one?" Yamato concluded, shaking his head. He had been able to see most of the action without leaving his seat, and that which he could not see he had clearly heard.

"Of course it wasn't the real one," Miyako replied indignantly. "Do you think the real Dark Bandit would steal loaves of bread from a village vendor?"

Yamato considered a moment. "Now that you mention it, I don't suppose that fits. So someone is impersonating him? Why?"

"They're attempting to damage his reputation," Wormmon stated in such a serious and annoyed tone that all present were surprised and turned to look at him. Silence followed for a moment. Ken sighed.


	18. Considerations

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Eighteen:** Considerations**

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all related characters, etc, etc, does not belong to me, yadda yadda. Plot, however, does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

* * *

Takeru had apparently had a much appreciated bath, for when the tired old cart half-filled with fresh fish from the village marketplace arrived, he was standing, cleaned and refreshed, upon the steps of the house.

It had not been Miyako's first choice to ride in a cart of fish, but there was little else available, and Yamato was in no shape to walk. She was quite relieved when their journey finally ended.

"What happened?" Takeru asked, noting the state of his brother. By now, his leg was half-covered in blood, the makeshift bandages soaked through, and he was feeling quite tired.

"It seems we were on to something with the forest after all," Ken stated. "A dozen or so swordsmen, dressed all in black, each one with his own crystal."

"The same ones that attacked Hikari and me further north," Takeru concluded.

"Must be," Ken replied, "since they teleported in and out."

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Yamato said, waving his brother aside. "I need a bath and a few days' rest, and I'll be fine. It's nothing serious."

"A bath I'll agree with," Takeru replied, helping him from the cart. He stopped at the steps and immediately began to undo the bandage from his brother's leg. "It was only a sword that did this?"

Yamato sighed heavily. "Yes, only a sword. I've become slow from hours of paperwork. I should take to practicing more often."

"You spend at least an hour every night," Takeru disagreed, examining the wound closely. "I should think that's enough. We'll have to clean this before I do anything further. Come on now."

"If you mess up my leg," Yamato warned, but was unable to think of an awful enough punishment as the end of his threat.

"It's not serious, as you said," Takeru replied, helping him to his feet once more. "I'm fairly certain that I can't make it any worse."

Ken was absently looking back toward the village, waiting for the crowd of people coming to complain about the security in the village. For the moment, at least, there was no sign of an angry mob approaching, however. Miyako took hold of his arm once more, pulling him toward the house.

"Come on," she said. "I have to talk to you."

"I'm hoping that mob comes here," he said, glancing back over his shoulder as they passed through the doorway. "I've never liked that man. I can't remember his name, but he was never any good at his job. If I remember right, he spent more time drinking than guarding anything. I always suspected the thieves were bribing him."

"Is _that_ all you're worried about?" Miyako demanded, stopping in the midst of the entrance hall. "Whether the chief of security in Motomiya loses his job?"

He blinked, surprised by her sudden emotions. "Well, no, not _all_ I'm worried about," he replied. "I'm worried about the bigger picture, of course."

"The bigger picture," she echoed, and sighed. Briefly, she glanced to the left, and then to the right. Seeing no one hovering in the doorways nor in the hall itself, she spoke in a quiet but intense whisper. "Don't you see that your _life_ is in _danger_?"

Now it was Ken who sighed. "Not here," he said in an equally quiet voice. He reached out one arm and gently guided her toward the stairs. "The big picture," he said in a normal tone, "of how all of this is related. Everything is connected, of course. If the thieves are bribing the chief of security, it would go a long way to explaining many things."

"Explaining what things?" Miyako wondered, confused.

They had reached the top of the stairs now, and he turned toward the right, heading down another hallway. As Miyako had never spent more than a few hours in this place, she did not quite know where they were heading.

"Explaining how it is that Motomiya became a very popular place for thieves," Ken went on. "It never did make sense to me. There aren't many wealthy people here to steal from, and there was always a prison right across the river. It seemed as though it didn't make much sense for thieves to prefer this place."

At the end of the hall was another staircase, which curved and wound about for a short distance before emerging into a large, open, cluttered room.

The room was round, with windows on all sides, allowing for a view of nearly all sides of the house. Out one window, the village was clearly visible below, and Miyako could see all the way to the forest and the river beyond. Out another, she could see the road which stretched north to the palace, and out another, the road curved toward Takaishi and other places south. Westward, there were fields, even now being planted by dozens of workers.

Between the windows facing east and south, a large fireplace was set into the wall. Though no flames burned within it, a pile of massive logs was set inside the hearth, and atop the mantle, piles of miscellaneous items cluttered the space.

There were books and papers, small gadgets, boxes of items, clothing of all sorts, shoes, and even an empty plate or bowl scattered here and there over the floor of the room. Beneath these items, a dark blue rug was barely visible, laid over the hardwood floors. A bed opposite the fireplace was unmade, blankets and sheets and pillows scattered about. A few books and several shirts had been tossed atop the bed as well.

In the center of this mess, V-mon was contentedly slumbering atop a rather fluffy pillow, snoring quietly and occasionally mumbling to himself. He rolled on to his back, scratched at a spot on his stomach, and then rolled onto his side.

Miyako felt as though there must be something to say at the sight of this place, but she could think of nothing, and so simply stood in the doorway with her mouth half open. After a moment, Hawkmon recovered, and said, "I thought I had seen the worst of things."

She turned and glared at her partner, but before she could make or act upon any threats, he fluttered across the room and settled himself beside V-mon for a nice long nap as well.

Before anything further could be said, a previously unnoticed door somewhere behind the bed opened, and Daisuke emerged into the room, rubbing at his hair with a towel. He paused in the doorway, noticed his visitors, and sighed.

"I see she's found you," he said to Ken. He kicked aside a few items that were in his way, and picked up a few shirts from the ground, which he tossed across the room into a pile.

"We were attacked in the forest," Ken said in response. He removed a shirt from a nearby chair and tossed it to Daisuke, who then threw into a pile with the others. "A dozen or so swordsmen, dressed all in black, who appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Sound familiar?"

"Vaguely," he mumbled, frowning. He was clearing off his bed as he spoke, tossing more shirts and few pairs of pants into the same pile in front of the fireplace. "I don't suppose any of them felt like telling their story?"

"Not really," Ken replied, sitting down in the chair. "There was another in the village, stealing loaves of bread."

"And masquerading as the Dark Bandit!" Wormmon added indignantly from his partner's shoulder.

Daisuke paused for a moment, arms half filled with clothing, and looked up, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Really?" he asked. "Stealing loaves of bread? Did they fall for it?"

"The chief of security did," Ken answered with a slight frown. "I don't know that many of the villagers were convinced. At any rate, the thief vanished, and they're now calling for him to resign." He glanced out the window which faced the village, vainly looking for the angry mob, which had not yet arrived. Disappointed, he sat down in the now empty chair.

"Not surprising," Daisuke replied. His arms now full of clothing, he vanished once more through the doorway behind the bed, where he deposited the pile and then returned to the room, which only looked slightly better. "He never was very smart."

"If he's so incompetent," Miyako interjected, "then why wasn't he fired years ago?"

Daisuke considered this for a few moments.

"It's difficult to prove incompetence," Ken replied with a shrug. "In any case, I thought he was useful. A smarter security chief would probably have figured out who the Dark Bandit was quite easily."

She frowned, taking a seat in another chair, which was miraculously free of any clutter. "In any case," she said, attempting to steer them to the subject which she might consider important, "don't you see that they're attempting to draw out the real Dark Bandit with these impostors? I wouldn't be surprised if they've tried that trick in other places besides here and the capital, but they haven't been reported."

"The capital?" Ken echoed, not having heard Mimi's story. Miyako quickly retold it with a bit less dramatic flair than the original version.

"I suppose," Daisuke said, sitting down on the bed, "that there's no doubt now that whoever is behind this is angry in some way with me." A few odd contraptions were on the bed, and he absently picked up the one nearest to him and absently turned it in his hands as he thought.

"Your sister, Hikari, and now the Dark Bandit," Miyako stated, ticking off each person on her fingers. "You are the thing that connects the three."

"But who," he wondered, only half paying attention to Miyako. "Who?" He turned over the odd contraption, fiddling with a few of its parts and buttons, and then sighed and tossed it aside.

"I don't know," he said then. "I don't know!" Grunting in frustration, he fell backwards onto the bed, which turned out to be a bad idea, as another gadget was in his way. Muttering a curse under his breath, Daisuke sat up once more and removed this latest gadget.

"What are all these things?" Miyako wondered, and in answer he tossed her the thing that he had laid down on. It was a long wooden tube which fit inside of another wooden tube and appeared to have some sort of glass circles at either end. There was a button on the side of the object, which didn't appear to do anything.

"That's the Far-Seer," Ken reported, and held out his hands. When she placed it into them, he held the thinner end of the tube up to his eye and looked through it. "It's supposed to let you see things that are a long way off."

Miyako took the object back from him and did the same. Nothing looked particularly different, though, as the pieces of glass were not particularly clean, it was a bit like looking through a fog. She pulled it back from her eye and wiped the glass off with her skirt, then tried again. Nothing looked any different.

"It doesn't work," Daisuke said from the bed, where he had flopped on to his back again. "The salesman went on about how fabulous and amazing it was, and it wasn't very expensive, so I bought it, thinking it might be useful. I don't think he'd sold anything in years, and I felt bad for him."

"What does the button do?" Miyako wondered, and pushed the button on top. She held it up to her eye once more, this time with one finger pushing the button. Nothing looked any different.

"Nothing," Daisuke answered. "It doesn't do anything. It was a complete waste of money." He sighed.

Miyako went on fiddling with the device for a few minutes, trying to see through the other side of the tube (which also did nothing), and experimenting with different ways to push the button.

"I can't sit here and wait for something to happen," Daisuke said, sitting up and walking over to the nearest window, which faced the village. He leaned upon the windowsill and absently stared at the sky. "Who knows what might happen next? I can't just…_wait_ for someone else to get hurt."

There wasn't anything to say to this statement. He couldn't leave; he _wouldn't_ leave. The next person to be attacked might be someone completely unexpected, or there might even be an attack within the house itself.

"In the forest," Miyako said then, "there was very ancient magic, and newer magic on top of it. Maybe if I examine it more closely, I might find some way of following that magic back to its source – to the person who cast it."

"Ancient magic?" Daisuke echoed, confused. He turned away from the window with a frown. "How ancient?"

She shrugged. "Pretty ancient. I'd say at least a few hundred years, maybe more. Do you think maybe one of your ancestors could have…?"

He was shaking his head before she finished. "No," he answered. "None of my ancestors have had any magic for as far back as there are records written."

Miyako blinked. "None? How is that possible? There's a little bit of magic, no matter how small, in almost every family. Doesn't a Lord need magic to cast protection spells on his land?"

Daisuke shrugged. "He can hire a mage, can't he? I don't know. All I know is that, if you go back four hundred years through the family tree, you will find absolutely no wizards or mages of any kind. There were a few who married people who had magic, but their children didn't have any magic, and so there wasn't any magic to pass on."

"It's something Motomiya is quite famous for, actually," Ken said then, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Not a drop of magical blood in any of them, and it wasn't for lack of trying. For a few generations it was the goal that every child born would marry someone with magic, but it wasn't any use. None of their offspring possessed any talent."

Miyako blinked, squinting toward Daisuke. "Do they have any idea why?" she questioned. "Is there something _wrong_ with all of you?"

"I don't know," he answered. "They used to say it was a curse, but who knows."

"An ancient curse?" Miyako echoed, frowning in thought. "I wonder if the two are related."

Once again, Daisuke shrugged. "Maybe. You think following the magic might lead to something?"

"It's definitely worth studying," she answered. "If the person who wove the magic in the forest is not the same person who cast the spell on Hikari, then it is someone who learned everything they knew from that person. If I can find out what the magic in the forest is meant to do, or even if I can't, I can find out who cast it, and where they are now."

"Are you sure?" he asked, obviously quite interested in this news.

Miyako nodded. "It may take some time," she cautioned, "but I know I can do it. I'll go back there tomorrow."

"I'll go with you," Ken said, but Miyako shook her head.

"You should stay here, where you're less of a target," she told him.

He was unwavering, however. "You're not going alone," he replied, getting up from his chair, as though to make his point more serious. "If you study the magic in the forest, you might be attacked as well, and I'm not going to stay here and wait for that to happen."

"What will you do, coming with me?" Miyako returned. "In case you've forgotten, I'm capable of defending myself. I seem to recall that _I_ was the one who helped _you_ today."

Ken was silent a long moment, but his expression did not waver from intense seriousness. "You're not going without me," he stated simply, and she sighed, glancing toward Daisuke to act as mediator.

Not wishing to become involved, Daisuke threw up both his hands as the other two both stared intensely at him. "Don't look at me," he said, but both continued to do so for some time, and so he relented.

"I don't think you should go alone," he finally said to Miyako, who frowned intensely at this statement. "He's right," Daisuke defended, gesturing toward Ken. "You might be attacked in the forest, and, while you're perfectly capable of defending yourself, it's still not the best idea to travel anywhere alone, particularly into a place where there's likely to be danger."

"And if, in doing so, I wind up delivering Ken into the hands of the enemy?" she questioned. By now, she, too, had gotten to her feet, placed both hands on her hips, and was now alternating glares between the other two.

Daisuke hesitated for a moment.

"You won't have," Ken replied. "I'll deliver myself." He had folded both arms across his chest, indicating to all concerned that he was not about to waver his position in the slightest.

Miyako, seeing she was apparently outnumbered, threw up both hands in a defeated gesture. "Fine," she said. "Don't say I didn't warn you." With that, she left the room.

* * *

As evening fell and the day drew to a close, dinner was served in the large dining room. There was a bit of tension. Miyako was unhappy with Ken, who had not relented in his desire to accompany her to the forest (and places beyond that, most likely). They had spent much of the afternoon alternately arguing with and avoiding each other while they prepared to leave.

Having healed his brother, Takeru had spent most of the afternoon sleeping in order to recover. Yamato, feeling perfectly fine, spent the afternoon doing what he had done every day for the last week: examining the defenses of the house. There was a small detail of security, mostly hired from the villagers, which patrolled the grounds and looked over the fields. There had never been much of a threat to the house itself, so security was lax.

With some assistance (though not much enthusiasm) from Jun, he had begun to attempt to bolster the security. He'd started training the guards who were there, and had been trying to convince Jun that it might be necessary to hire some more. Now that Daisuke had finally arrived, he had spent most of the afternoon talking to him about it.

Daisuke might ordinarily have been rather interested in the discussion, but his mind was admittedly elsewhere. His usual concern about the troubles following him around lately had only been exacerbated by Miyako and Ken's disagreement. Though he'd done his best to show interest, his thoughts were not on the subject, and Yamato had finally given up his attempt.

Hikari had spent the afternoon sleeping, and had awoken feeling much refreshed. For dinner, Jun had enlisted Miyako's help in finding a dress she could wear. At her mother's house, Hikari had spent most of her time in bed, asleep, and had worn only nightgowns. For traveling, she'd worn only a plain, practical dress. Now that travel was over, Jun had decided that it was time she started wearing ordinary clothing once more, reasoning that it might help the morale of both herself and the those around her.

The table was a buzz of conversations. Food was piled high and plates were filled. Hikari ate, listening to the chatter around her and silently absorbing and learning of all the things that she had missed while she was asleep.

"There's nothing to worry about," Miyako was saying to Yamato, who had expressed concern about his brother's exhaustion after the healing process. "Healing magic is still magic, and it still tires you. He's not used to it, and so it tires him." She paused, shoveled a bite into her mouth, and took a drink from her glass. "He'll get used to it."

"I don't know," Takeru was saying, seated on the other side of his brother. He was talking to Jun, who was sitting across from him. "To be completely honest, I hadn't thought about it that much. I learned healing magic because I wanted to bring it south, but I didn't see myself as a healer."

"The best way to teach is by doing," Jun told him. "The best way to learn, too. Didn't you learn that way?"

He nodded, because he had since taken a bite of food and couldn't speak at the moment.

"It's not the most accurate map in the world," Ken was saying to Yamato, apparently discussing plans for the next day's trip, which he was insisting upon taking. Miyako had returned her attention to her food, obviously still unhappy about that. Hikari, sitting beside her, could practically feel the air chill.

"It's hard to find good maps," Yamato replied, apparently oblivious to Miyako's annoyance. "The best mapmakers were always in Takaishi, I have to admit, and there aren't too many of them around anymore."

"People aren't doing as much traveling, I suppose," Ken replied with a shrug.

"No, and there isn't much demand for maps," he said, swallowing a gulp of his drink. "Anyone who does travel knows where they're going."

The conversations went on for some time, and Hikari let them dissolve into background noise, feeling full and a bit tired from the food. Her plate and glass were emptied, and the meal had been delicious. Looking down, she saw only crumbs on her plate. Looking up again, she saw that Daisuke was absently swirling the liquid in his glass.

He was sitting across from her, and it was only now that Hikari realized he had not taken part in any of the numerous conversations at the table. It was not immediately obvious why he had been quiet, either. It didn't appear that he was upset about anything (which had accounted for Miyako's bouts of silence) or that he was thinking deeply.

Apparently feeling her eyes upon him, he looked up and smiled, as though seeing her for the first time that evening.

_Sometimes_, Hikari thought, smiling herself, _you don't need words_.

* * *

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a title.

* * *


	19. Moments

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Nineteen: **Moments**

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all related characters, merchandise, and money, does not belong to me. Plot does. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

* * *

By midmorning, a quiet, lazy calm had settled over the house. Miyako and Ken had left without incident, taking enough provisions to last them for some time (as they did not know where their quest would lead, nor when they would return). Takeru had settled himself in a quiet, empty parlor, and taken to reading some of the healing books that he had brought with him from the north.

Yamato was leading half the security detail through a rigorous training exercise. He had ignored all advice suggesting that he might rest a bit, as he was feeling fine, and had instead taken his sword and the guards out to an empty space near the river, determined that he should teach them something.

Daisuke had resisted Yamato's suggestions that he join the training, and had rummaged through some of the history books in the library. The shelves were filled with dusty old volumes, some of which had not been opened in centuries, and many of which were detailed accounts of the family's history. Countless family trees, explaining exactly who was related to whom, and how, filled several books.

After a half hour or so of such searching, however, he'd lost the desire for scholarly pursuit. The dust of the library had transferred to his skin and caused him to spend at least half of his time sneezing. He put back the latest volume and returned to his room, deciding that he ought to at least change clothes and wash his face of the dust.

Jun was there, absently fiddling with a wooden gadget that was lying upon the windowsill, and peering out toward the town below. Reaching the top of the stairs, Daisuke paused, frowning at the sight of his sister.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, and though he did not speak with much volume or anger, she jumped at the sound and turned away from the window.

"Looking for you," she replied. "You're covered with dust, and I haven't seen you for at least an hour. Where have you been?"

"It's a big house," he answered with a shrug. "I was in the library. What are you doing in my room?"

"The library?" Jun echoed, and laughed. "I don't believe that. You never voluntarily go into the library. Although," and she paused, thoughtfully, "that does explain the dust, as no one else goes in there, either."

"I was looking for the source of the curse," Daisuke answered, crossing the room. A large wardrobe was placed next to the window Jun had been looking out, and he now opened the door to it, searching for clothes. A half-dozen shirts fell out, and he picked them up and stuffed them back inside.

"What curse?" Jun asked.

"The curse that means that no one in our family has any magic," he replied, voice muffled as his head was halfway into the wardrobe by now. Emerging once more with a shirt, he turned toward his sister. "You still haven't told me why you're here."

She didn't answer this statement, apparently considering these words for a moment. Absently, she fiddled with the gadget in her hands. Seeing he wasn't going to get an answer, Daisuke sighed heavily, located a clean pair of pants, and slipped through the door behind his bed.

When he emerged, a bit cleaner and a bit less dusty than before, he saw that his sister was still in the room, now sitting in an armchair near the fireplace. Pausing in the task of buttoning his shirt, Daisuke took a step into the bedroom.

"What do you want?" he asked, and now he was aware that he sounded quite impatient and a bit demanding.

She'd stopped fiddling with the gadgets and was now looking at her brother with a thoughtful expression. Without speaking, Jun got to her feet and crossed the room to him.

She began buttoning the shirt where he had left off, an action which confused him. "I was thinking," she said, as she moved to the next one, "that the weather is very nice today, don't you think?"

Daisuke followed her gaze toward the nearest window, out which clear blue skies were visible for quite some distance. She fastened the next button without waiting for him to respond. "I was thinking that it might be a nice day for a picnic." She had reached the top button now, which he did not usually bother with, but Jun began to fasten it anyway.

"I was thinking," she said, slipping the small, round piece of thin metal through the hole in the fabric, "that perhaps Hikari might like to see the sun."

She stepped back away from him and looked up, studying his face.

Daisuke frowned, already tugging at his collar, for it felt too tight with the top button fastened. "A picnic?" he echoed, and shrugged. "All right."

"Leave it," Jun scolded him, pushing his hand away. "That's how it's supposed to be." She stepped back, examining the package, and tugged at the bottom hem of his shirt.

"It's wrinkled, of course," she noted with a sigh. "If you folded them neatly rather than stuffing them all onto shelves, that wouldn't happen."

"Does it matter?" he asked, again tugging at the collar.

"Of course it does," Jun replied, once more swatting at his hand to prevent him from unbuttoning the top fasteners. "I'm going to see that Hikari is wearing something nice, and it wouldn't be appropriate if you looked like a slob, would it? Find yourself a jacket. I know you have one somewhere that's not wrinkled."

"For a picnic?" Daisuke called after her as she made her way down the stairs. "Is that really necessary?"

* * *

The forest was, as always, empty and quiet. A cool breeze blew through the trees, rustling the branches and sending a few blossoms flying in the wind. Miyako set down the bag she'd been carrying at no place in particular and listened to the sound of it.

"Here is as good a place as any," she decided, and glanced back toward Ken, who had followed her. "This might take a while."

He shrugged, unconcerned. "I can wait."

She frowned in his general direction, still unhappy that he had decided to come along, and removed her glasses, stuffing them in the most convenient pocket.

Ken took a seat at the base of the nearest tree and watched as she wandered amongst the trees for a short distance, looking at something that was invisible to everyone else. Wormmon climbed down from his partner's shoulder and yawned, settling into a nap beside him. Hawkmon perched upon one of the roots and did the same, letting his eyes fall shut.

Miyako wandered about for a while, reaching out with her hands to some threads of magic, feeling her way about in a manner that would have suggested to an ignorant observer that she was blind. After a short while, she grabbed hold of something invisible, squeezed her hands around it, and shut her eyes.

There was a crunching of a footstep a short distance away, and Ken got to his feet, the sudden movement waking the digimon from their short naps. He turned, but saw nothing there; no human nor digimon.

_Did I imagine it?_ he wondered. No sooner had he thought these thoughts than he felt a shiver run down his spine – a strange tingling that suggested magic was present. He turned round quickly, expecting attack, and still saw nothing.

_I didn't imagine it,_ he thought to himself. _There _is_ something here, but where?_

A gentle breeze danced through the treetops, and a few spring blossoms floated in the air. Wormmon yawned, and Hawkmon shortly followed. The digimon obviously didn't sense anything strange.

There was a man, standing a short distance away, in the midst of the trees. He was dressed in a long white coat and his long hair was tied in a braid that stretched down his back. He did not speak or move, but simply stood, silently observing.

Ken stared back, wondering again if he was imagining things. Slowly, he began to move his hand toward his sword, and then, at the precise moment that his fingers made contact, the man vanished.

For a long moment, Ken stood, waiting and listening, certain that the swordsman would return. He did not, however, and when Ken glanced back toward Miyako, he saw that she was still lost to the world, unraveling threads of magic, concentrating intensely.

"What was that about?" Wormmon questioned, watching as his partner returned to the base of the tree and sat down once more.

"We're being watched," Ken replied with a frown. "I don't know why they haven't attacked, but they know we're here."

* * *

"Here?" Takeru echoed, looking around. They were only a few steps away from the stream that ran past the house. A small fruit tree with long, overhanging limbs, shaded a good portion of this empty space. A few blossoms were present upon the branches, but it was mostly only buds.

"Perfect," Jun replied, and set down the basket she had carried. She reached inside and removed a large blanket, which she immediately spread out over the grass with a wide swoop.

When the blanket had been laid out, Takeru gently set Hikari down upon the blanket. He had been recruited solely for this task, because Jun had informed her brother that he must not risk wrinkling his clothes further by carrying her. Daisuke had reminded her that his shirt was already wrinkled – she had pointed this out herself – but she'd ignored this logical statement and had him carry a second basket of food instead.

"There you are," Jun now said, setting both baskets upon the blanket. She wiped her hands upon her skirt, job completed, and grabbed hold of her brother's arm, pushing him toward the blanket. "Sit!"

He did so, feeling rather silly for having put on nice clothes in order to sit in the grass, and it was only with great effort that he refrained from rolling his eyes.

"Now then," she said, opening the basket. "Eat, eat, eat." She stepped back from the blanket now, grabbed on to Takeru by the arm, and began to lead him back to the house. "Enjoy!" she called cheerfully as they both vanished beyond the trees.

Daisuke and Hikari both watched them go for a long moment, until they were no longer visible in the distance. Hikari turned and looked back toward Daisuke, who immediately removed the jacket his sister had made him wear (it was too warm to be necessary) and began once more to fiddle with the button at the top of his shirt.

He realized halfway through this that Hikari was watching him with some confusion, and he stopped messing with it, feeling a little silly. "I never button the top one," he said sheepishly. "I can never get it undone again, and it's too tight. I always feel like I'm choking."

Hikari looked at him with a faint smile that could best be described as bemused, and waved him closer. She was shaking her head slightly as she leaned over and undid the button for him.

"I know," he said. "I'm really _not_ choking, and the shirt is _supposed_ to be buttoned all the way to the top, and it looks silly like this." He shrugged. Hikari only shook her head a bit more and continued smiling in the same fashion as before.

"I also want to say," Daisuke continued, as he began rummaging in the baskets of food, "that none of this was my idea. It was all my sister's. She said that you might want to go outside for a bit, and I guess that's not a bad idea, but I don't see why I needed to get dressed and look silly up for a picnic."

He paused, setting a bowl of food on the blanket, and turned toward Hikari. "Not that you look silly," he said. "You look fabulous. I'm the one that looks silly. I'm only glad she didn't make me wear one of those shirts with all the ruffles." He gestured toward the collar of the shirt and waved his fingers about while making a disgusted expression.

Within a short while, he had set out all of the food. There was really far too much for two people to eat. Had their digimon been present, it would not have been a problem, but Jun had insisted (much to their disappointment) that V-mon and Tailmon stay behind. She had only gotten them to agree with this plan by promising to serve them a lunch that was equally as large as the one being sent outside.

They ate, and did not finish even half of what had been brought along. Feeling quite full, Daisuke laid back on the blanket and looked up at the sky. A few fluffy clouds floated past.

"I couldn't eat another bite," he said.

* * *

"That way," Miyako said abruptly, waking the digimon and startling Ken from his half-awake state. Though he'd been intent upon keeping watch for possible dangers, the lack of sleep the previous night and the lack of anything to really do had made him tired, and he'd begun to doze as well.

He yawned, rubbing his eyes, and got to his feet. "East?" he questioned.

"East," she replied. "The magic goes eastward, and that's the way we're going." She lifted her pack from where she'd left it on the ground near her feet.

Wormmon took up position upon his partner's bag, which he also carried upon his back, and Ken began walking. As they left the small clearing they'd been stopped in, he glanced over his shoulder, but saw no one and nothing.

"See something?" Miyako asked.

He shook his head. "No," he admitted, turning back. "Did you find out anything useful from the magic?"

"I can't really say how, but the ancient stuff seems a little familiar. I don't know why."

"The ancient magic feels familiar?" Ken echoed. "How is that possible? Have you spent a lot of time around ancient magic?"

Miyako frowned thoughtfully for a moment. "The barrier that hides the Primary Village," she said, "is quite old. There is also the barrier between the forest and the desert, and the barrier on the other side of the desert, before the snow begins."

"There aren't any barriers here, are there?" Hawkmon questioned.

"No," Miyako replied, shaking her head. "Which is why it's hard to tell if it really _is_ the same magic. If it was the same barrier spell, it'd be easier to tell if it was the same person that cast it."

"Do you think maybe it only feels similar because of its age?" Ken suggested.

"That's possible, too, I suppose," she admitted. "Perhaps, several hundred years ago, magic was performed in a certain why that makes it all feel similar to modern mages."

"We never did figure out who made the barrier in the East," Hawkmon pointed out. "Or why."

For a moment there was silence but for the sound of footsteps as they continued eastward through the forest.

"How far East do we need to travel?" Ken wondered.

* * *

Hikari yawned, similarly feeling the tired feeling that comes on after a large meal in the afternoon. A gentle but warm breeze rustled the grass around the picnic blanket. In the stream nearby, the water gently rippled over small stones. Overhead, a few white fluffy clouds briefly blocked the sunlight and cast a shadow over the land.

Daisuke sat up abruptly as the shadow passed. The breeze ruffled his hair and caused the unbuttoned collar of his shirt to flap in the wind. Hikari looked toward him, wondering what had made him move so suddenly.

He crawled across the blanket to the spot where he had thrown his jacket, apparently not currently inclined to explain his actions. Having found it, he rummaged within one pocket and then another, and finally removed a small wooden box, so small that it could easily be held in one hand, or fit into the pocket of a jacket.

"I don't want you to think that I'm giving up," he said, absently turning the small box over in his hands as he spoke. He turned back toward Hikari but still did not look up; his eyes were upon the box in his hands. "I'm not."

Hikari shook her head, meaning to indicate that she had not thought anything of the sort, but Daisuke didn't notice the gesture because he did not yet raise his eyes.

"I was only…I was only thinking that it doesn't really matter _when_, does it?" he went on. "It still _means_ the same thing, right? No matter when it…."

He'd trailed off, having finally looked up and observed that Hikari was staring at him with a very confused expression, as though she had no idea what he was talking about. She didn't.

He sighed and then held out the box with one hand. "It's for you," he said, realizing that his explanations weren't really making sense. "It has something to do with a tradition they have in the North…it's a symbol."

Hikari was still staring at him as though he was speaking in another language.

Daisuke sighed once more, and then began again. "Your uncle…the king of the North…he gave this to me. He said that in the North they have a tradition that you're supposed to give something…give a ring, that is…to the person you're marrying. It's a symbol of something, I don't know. I never heard of it before." He shrugged and waved his free hand, indicating that there was a more complex explanation involved, but he didn't know it or couldn't explain it further.

"The king," he said, "gave this to me because he thought I might want to give it to you…part of that tradition." He shrugged once more. "I was thinking that I would give it to you now anyway."

Hikari's confused expression had changed, but it was still present. She was staring at the box now rather than Daisuke, as though she had never seen something at all similar in her entire life.

"Not because I don't want to," he said, speaking quickly now. "It's not because I'm giving up hope or anything, that I think we won't make it that far or…." He trailed off once more, and then interrupted himself. "It's because…," and he paused, trying to figure out exactly _why_ he was doing it.

"It doesn't matter when I give it to you, does it? It still means the same thing."

Hikari looked up from the box toward him, but now her expression had changed from confused bewilderment to bewildered surprise. She reached out and took the small box from his hand, and then slowly opened it.

Another breeze danced across the space, and the clouds moved away from the sun. A bit of sunlight had the fortune of shining directly on to the ring as it emerged into the world for the first time in several months. It glinted off the largest red gemstone in the center of the silver ring.

She stared at it a long moment, mouth hanging slightly open. Her eyes were wide, but Daisuke couldn't clearly judge if the expression on her face was happiness or something else.

A few insects chirped in the spring air. The stream bubbled as it splashed over a few rocks. A warm and gentle wind rustled the branches of the tree overhead. A few early blossoms floated in the air and made their way to the ground.

"I guess…," Daisuke began, and the paused, shaking his head as though to throw off his difficulty with words. "I'm giving it to you now because I want you to know how I feel," he said more clearly. "In case you didn't know, in case you…doubted me."

Hikari looked up now and shook her head, disagreeing with this statement, but he shook his head back.

"No, I know you did," he said. "I know you have. You never would have said anything, I'm sure, but I know in the back of your mind you were wondering if I agreed because of the spell. You were wondering if it was really my own decision."

She had been wondering such a thing, quietly, in the back of her mind, since the spell of enslavement had been broken. The fear of it had hung in the back of her head for the last few weeks, breaking out to occupy her thoughts now and again, though she had always pushed it aside and never mentioned it aloud.

"I suppose maybe I was wondering it, too," Daisuke went on. "I don't know, I don't know if anyone knows the full extent of the spell's power and what it did to me. Maybe it really was because of the magic."

He paused a moment, gathering his thoughts, and his eyes fell on the small box Hikari was still holding. Then he shook his head. "No," he said, and his voice was sterner, less hesitant. "The magic didn't give me any feelings I didn't have." Without really being aware of it, he had been shifting his weight so he was now sitting closer than before.

Hikari had been staring at him wide-eyed through his entire speech, occasionally altering her glance downward at the glowing red gemstone. Her mouth had been hanging half-open, as though total surprise would have robbed her of the ability to speak if some mysterious magic had not done so already. Now, however, her mouth curved into a smile, and her eyes expressed happiness rather than stunned surprise, as though he had given her the most wonderful news in the world.

If he had been asked about it later, Daisuke would not have been able to explain his motivations in effective words, but the expression upon her face at that moment awoke an intense urge within him, and he reached across the space between them and placed his hand upon the side of her face. In response, Hikari did not open her eyes wider nor pull away, but astonishingly began to smile even wider than before.

Had she spoken in words at that moment, he would not have been able to understand them; he would not have heard them at all. Had someone come up behind him, shouting, he might not have heard that either. Hikari would not likely have heard them either, for the silence of the moment enveloped them both.

In the silence of the spring afternoon, beneath the mostly-barren branches of the overhanging fruit tree, their thoughts met and briefly became as one. Their lips connected, feelings were exchanged, and, for a split second, all was right with the world. All problems, anxieties, fears, and worries vanished like dust in the light breeze.

All of this happened with a simple kiss.

It was not to last, however, and the moment passed more quickly than either would have liked. A moment is only a moment, however, and must pass by as all moments do, subject to the relentless flow of time. Anxieties, fears, and worries, returned when the moment was over, having only been kept at bay temporarily.

They separated, and their eyes met. Each saw in the other a happiness they had never before witnessed nor felt. All was well once more.

But this, too, was only a moment.

Hikari felt a strange sensation somewhere in the middle of her spine. It was almost like a shiver, but milder – a tingling, perhaps – and then it ran upwards, toward her neck. The feeling surprised her, made nearly all her muscles tense, and her eyes grow wide with shock. She focused them then, and saw that Daisuke was looking at her with a worried expression.

"Hikari? Are you all right?"

She gasped a little breath, as though she had been holding in air, and then another, as though breathing was difficult. Her eyes grew wide and distant again, as though she was feeling pain, and when they focused once more Daisuke saw an expression of fear within them.

Something was not right, realized immediately; Hikari rarely showed fear in her eyes. Without thinking further on the subject, he scooped her into his arms, got to his feet, and started back toward the house. His mind was whirling, his head spinning.

Her eyes were drooping by the time he was a few steps away from the rear entrance to the house. "Don't," he said, aware of the panic in his own voice. "Stay with me. Hikari!"

Her eyes were still drooping though, and a few steps further on they had shut entirely. Her body had gone limp in his arms, as though all the energy had drained from it in a single moment. Her head dropped sideways, her arms fell weakly to the side.

Daisuke stopped walking, panic and fear having taken hold of his body and mind. He felt a shiver, and tiny bumps appeared on his skin as though a cold wind had blown through him. The day was still warm and mild, though. For a moment, he couldn't speak, couldn't move.

He found his voice, though, swallowing his panic. He opened his mouth and exercised the full power of his lungs. "Takeru!" he shouted, and it could easily be said that the entire house heard his voice; perhaps even some of the field workers or the villagers.

* * *

There _is_ an ending to this story. I have actually planned it. It is quite a long ways away, however, so I hope you have some patience. Brevity has never been my strong suit.

Thanks to the person who left me a review on the last chapter, and to everyone who has been reading this far along. I'm not doing this for recognition, but it's nice to know that other people are appreciating it as well.

I'm not so good at writing the romantic stuff, so sorry in advance if the stuff to come is really lame. It's sort of important to the story this time, so bear with me and if it's really really awful don't be afraid to let me know.

That's enough rambling from me. Thanks for reading.


	20. Helplessness

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Twenty:** Helplessness**

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon,_ all related characters, merchandise, money, etc, does not belong to me. Plot, however, does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

* * *

Pausing for rest at the edge of the forest, Miyako looked upward, past the tall treetops and into the clear blue sky beyond. A few fluffy white clouds momentarily shielded her gaze from the sun, and cast a shadow on the ground below.

A single Piyomon, carrying a message in its claws, flew overhead, in a hurry to reach his destination, hours away.

Ken had sat down upon the overgrown roots of a tree and opened his pack, searching for a quick meal. He located a few cakes of trail rations, and began to eat one, downing a gulp of water ever few bites to make the nutritious but overall unappetizing meal go down easier.

Miyako sat upon another root and found her own rations, which she ate as well, handing another to Hawkmon. The bird digimon looked as though he was quite ready for a nap, but he was not opposed to food, either, and he devoured the travel cake as quickly as his partner.

"Do you still sense the magic?" Ken asked when he had finished eating and almost emptied his canteen.

Miyako nodded. "I'm still following the same trail. It's fainter here, but still present, and still ancient."

"Any idea where it might be leading us?" Hawkmon wondered in between bites of food.

She shook her head, leaning back against the thick trunk of the tree. "East, that's all I know," she replied. "I don't even know where we are now. Is this still part of Motomiya?"

Ken frowned in thought. "I don't know," he admitted. "I'm not sure how far east that land extends." He rummaged in his sack for the map that Yamato and he had looked over the night before, and spread it out on the ground between them.

The map had quite clearly divided up the kingdom into the sections controlled by various lords and nobles. Though the map was rather old, such familial territories had not changed names much in centuries, and forests and rivers and such remained in the same places as ever. A few borders might have altered as a result of border disputes, but these were rare and for the most part the Kings and Queens had always kept the peace between the nobles.

In the center of the kingdom, the capital and the surrounding land was directly controlled by the King and no other nobles interfered, but nearly all the rest of the land (except for a few small pockets) was divided amongst the nobility.

Miyako noted the clear labels identifying Kido, far to the northwest, near the ocean and Takaishi, one of the furthest south. Hida was a relatively small section to the north and slightly east, bordering the kingdom to the north (which was depicted as a dull gray blob, not being the primary interest of the mapmaker). It was also easy to find Ishida, located in the mountainous region to the south, slightly north of Takaishi, and Tachikawa, which was slightly south of Hida. Takenouchi-Inoue, formed many years previously by an alliance of two families that held to this day, was a short distance south of the capital.

They located Motomiya easily enough, and the western border was clear. Between Takenouchi-Inoue and Motomiya rested a slim tract of land labeled as belonging to Yukari. Miyako was vaguely familiar with the family; she had met the daughter of the Lord, a girl a few years younger than she was. To the north of Motomiya was Ichijouji, the land from which Ken's family had come, which was home to luscious farmland and several large inland lakes. South belonged to Akiyama; Miyako knew the young man of this family who was a few years older than she was, and engaged to a woman from the North.

The eastern border, however, was something else entirely. The eastern border of the kingdom was most clearly defined by a dense forest that seemed to run the entire length from north to south. The mapmaker had drawn many swirling, curving lines, designed to represent trees, and labeled this area simply "forest." No name was given to the forest, and there was no thick line indicating the eastern border of the kingdom. To the east of the forest, the map ended, though Miyako and Ken knew from personal experience what lay beyond it.

"I don't understand," Miyako said then. "Is the forest part of Motomiya? Is it part of the kingdom at all, or does that river we crossed mark the eastern border?"

"I don't know," Ken replied, studying the map. "No one from Motomiya ever crosses the river and comes into the forest; I suppose that makes it a border of some sort."

There was silence for a few moments as everyone present slipped into his or her own thoughts. To the east, if they kept going, lay an empty wasteland, a large expanse of desert in which few digimon and no humans lived. According to history, nomadic tribes had once roamed the land, and they had come together long enough to sign a treaty with Yagami to form the eastern border. Though the tribes had disbanded for some reason or another – perhaps moving away from the land, perhaps dying out completely, no one knew for certain – the borders had been honored. No one in Yagami had taken any notice of the eastern border or concerned themselves with matters to the east for many years.

They had only taken an interest, Miyako recalled, when the digimon of those lands had been threatened and come westward seeking help and sanctuary. When the threat had been neutralized, little further attempt had been made to map or survey the land. Though Iori had expressed interest in doing so, other matters had taken his attention, and when he'd taken Hida he'd been forced to abandon all such projects as too time-consuming and difficult to manage from such a distance. Daisuke had ventured into the territory once more, but he had not been searching for information about the land itself. Miyako and Ken had followed him, but they had not wished to spend much time there, and had returned home immediately.

Still, the land was there, and digimon roamed the empty space, though much of it seemed inhospitable to humans. A vast desert began at the edge of the forest, formed by some ancient, magical boundary.

"I need to study that boundary," Miyako said with a frown. "I never did do so clearly before, but I'm sure it's similar to the magic in this forest."

"I thought you had said that the border magic was made of Light magic," Hawkmon said sleepily from where he was lying on the tree root, ready to slip into an afternoon nap. "You said it felt similar to the princess' magic."

"I did think so at the time," she remembered, and her frown deepened. "Ancient, though, like maybe it was one of her ancestors that formed it."

"That's possible," Ken pointed out. "Perhaps one of the ancient Kings or Queens formed the borders of Yagami with magic. Perhaps there was some threat in the east, even then, and that was a way to keep it out."

"I think we thought that, too," Miyako replied, thinking back upon conversations from years ago. "On the other side of the desert is another barrier, beyond which is the snowy wasteland, and that barrier seems to have been formed with dark magic. With light magic on one side and dark on the other, we thought maybe the space in the middle was a neutral ground."

"Or maybe," Ken said his voice sounding far away and distance, "it was the sight of an ancient battle, and the wasteland was the result of the destruction."

* * *

The sunny spring day had slowly drawn to a close, the sun sinking down below the rolling western hills, covering the land with the darkness of evening. Shortly after nightfall, clouds appeared as though from nowhere, and a gentle rain began to fall.

Feeling as though keeping his eyes open was a monumental effort, Takeru shut the door behind him quietly and then leaned against it. He shut his eyes for a brief moment, but felt no returning energy.

"Now you know why Miyako was against it," Patamon said from his perch atop his partner's head. "It's exhausted you, and it doesn't look like it did much good."

"It's early to tell," Takeru replied stubbornly, and used his arms to push himself away from the wall, giving him the momentum to take a few steps forward. "It might take a few more hours. Maybe I didn't give enough."

Patamon frowned at this statement, but didn't say anything. He sighed heavily as Takeru half-stumbled down the hallway, occasionally leaning upon the wall with one arm to prevent himself from falling over.

At the end of the hall they emerged into the entrance foyer of the house. As no one was coming or going at the moment, the space was empty, but one of the large doors leading to the outside was slightly ajar.

"The door is open," Patamon noted, and Takeru paused in his steps and blinked a few times toward the entranceway before he was able to see clearly.

He yawned, and then stumbled forward toward the door. Beyond it, the soft sound of raindrops pattering on the ground could clearly be heard. Takeru pushed the door open a bit more, and felt the cool, damp air bring a bit of energy back to him. He shivered involuntarily, though the air was not overly cold, and turned his head to the left and then to the right, around the door.

Daisuke was standing behind the half-open door. A small overhang shielded him from the rain, but he was slightly damp nonetheless. His hair was nearly flat with moisture, and his shoes were also darkened from the puddles. He was holding a jacket in his right hand, and he'd unbuttoned half his shirt, letting not only the collar but a significant portion of the shirt itself hang open. Having heard the creak of the door opening, he turned his head toward Takeru.

"Aren't you supposed to be resting?" he questioned.

"I was on my way," Takeru replied, gesturing back into the house with one hand. "What are you doing out in the rain?"

"Thinking," Daisuke answered evasively, and turned back to watching the raindrops fall into a nearby puddle.

"You can't think…inside?"

Daisuke only shrugged. "Didn't feel like it," he said.

Takeru nodded, deciding that it might be best to ask no further questions. "Miyako was right," he said after a moment of semi-awkward silence. "It doesn't look like transferring my energy has really done much more than," he paused to yawn, "make me exhausted."

A moment of silence passed. Daisuke nodded shortly, his head moving almost imperceptibly up and down. He shrugged. "If she's really going, then she's going," he said then, quietly. "Maybe it can't be stopped."

Had Takeru possessed more energy at that moment, he might have argued this point. He was never eager to give up, or to let others give up. He was certainly not willing to give up hope on Hikari, not when there had previously seemed to be much improvement.

Arguing, however, takes quite a bit of energy, and belief. Takeru was not quite certain that he disagreed, though he very much wanted to. He yawned again. "You should come in out of the rain," he said. "Before you get sick."

A shrug was the only response. Takeru sighed, then tried and failed to suppress another yawn before turning back into the house. He shut the door quietly behind him.

* * *

"I don't have any idea where he's gone," Jun replied. "I've gone upstairs and downstairs and looked into nearly every room in the house. He's not here."

Yamato glanced toward the bed in which Hikari was lying. She looked for all the world as though she was merely sleeping peacefully, though her skin had paled much more than could be deemed healthy. At the foot of the bed, Tailmon and V-mon were curled up, lying so closely together that they were nearly intertwined.

"He can't have gone far," Yamato noted optimistically. "He wouldn't have left his partner behind."

"Certainly not!" Alraumon agreed with some vehemence.

"No, he wouldn't," Jun admitted. She had taken a section of her skirt into her hand at around the same point that Daisuke had returned to the house carrying Hikari, and she'd twisted it between her fingers for the several hours since. When her brother had vanished, she'd only twisted it harder.

She sat down in an armchair, tears threatening to escape with such force that her eyes were hurting, and finally released the fabric, instead rubbing at her eyes. "This is my fault," she mumbled quietly.

"Your fault?" Yamato echoed, staring at her.

"It was my idea," she said, "to send them on that stupid…picnic. It wouldn't have happened…."

"That's ridiculous," he replied. "Whatever magic that's been set upon her, it could have made a move to become stronger at any point. It happened to happen while there was a picnic, but that doesn't mean that if there wasn't a picnic, everything would be fine. It would have happened at some other time."

"He's right," Alraumon said consolingly. "The picnic was a great idea."

"You really think so?" Jun asked, lifting her head. Her eyes were a bit red.

"I really think so," her partner replied.

"I think you need some rest," Yamato said. "Daisuke won't go far. He's probably just upset and he's gone for a walk. You should go to bed, and I'm sure he'll be back before morning."

* * *

Jun took a few deep breaths to settle herself and got slowly to her feet. "Yes," she replied, rubbing at her eyes with the back of one hand. "I'll get some rest."

"Well," said Hawkmon, "here we are."

He didn't sound in the least bit enthusiastic about his current location, though his mood might have been affected by the rain that had fallen steadily since the night before. The thought of venturing into the empty wasteland that stretched before them did not make him particularly happy, and he was hoping quite strongly that the trail might turn another direction.

"Here we are indeed," Miyako agreed, peering over the top of her glasses. "It looks much the same as it did before."

"Do you mean the desert or the barrier?" Wormmon asked.

"Both," she replied.

The barrier was invisible. It did not seem to prevent passage between the desert and the forest, nor was it completely responsible for the change in scenery. The forest had begun thinning some distance before the barrier, and true desert did not begin until several steps beyond it. In the winter, the barrier was easily noticed by everyone with or without magic because of the rapid temperature change. On a clear and mild morning in early spring, however, the transformation was far less drastic.

To the east, stretching out as far as the eye could see (which was not very far because the sun had not risen completely), was sand. Soft rolling hills of sand that shifted with the slightest wind and might, at a moment's notice, be swept up and spun into a vicious sandstorm that would leave a traveler blind and lost. For the moment, the sands were quiet, and only a gentle breeze danced across the space, scattering a few of the tiny grains. Though a light rain fell in the forest, there didn't appear to be any precipitation in the desert beyond.

After a moment of some thought and examination of the barrier, Miyako stepped back, shaking her head. "No, it's not the same," she said, frowning. "It's not the same at all."

"So the barrier was not created by the same person who put the magic in the forest?" Ken concluded.

"No," Miyako replied. "I think it might be from the same time period, but it's not the same. It's a completely different magic, a completely different feel…it was a completely different person that cast it."

"What time period are we talking about, exactly?" Hawkmon asked.

Miyako sighed. "History was never my best subject," she answered, "and I don't know anything about the history of magic. All I can tell you is that it's old. Very old."

There was a moment of silence as they all contemplated the past.

"A long time ago, someone…most likely the King or Queen at the time…put up a barrier between the forest and the desert. At the same time, or very near around there, someone cast very strong and complex magic in the forests to the east of Motomiya, stretching toward the desert where the barrier was built. Is that what we've learned?" Ken asked.

"Pretty much, yes," Miyako replied. "And then, rather recently, someone else came along and cast more magic in the forest. They or someone related to them or working with them cast a spell on Hikari, and cast some other unknown spell in the forest."

"Aside from the barrier spell, do we have any idea what any of that magic was supposed to do?" Hawkmon wondered.

"Some of it must have been for teleportation, right?" Wormmon said, and Miyako nodded.

"Some, but not all," she answered. "Some of it, I don't know."

"The magic from the forest ends at the barrier?" Ken asked. When she nodded once more, he went on, "Perhaps the barrier was to block that magic?"

"You're thinking a dangerous mage inside the border?" she wondered. "I suppose that's a possibility, but then, why build the barrier along the eastern border? Why not around the magic cast in the forest?" She shook her head. "There's too much I don't understand. None of the magic feels dangerous at all. It's complex, it's sad, and maybe a little angry, but not destructive."

"How far does the magic extend?" Hawkmon asked. "How far does the magic in the forest spread out?"

"That's a good question," Miyako replied.

* * *

The morning was not a particularly bright and pleasant one. The rain that had begun the night before was still falling steadily, pattering rhythmically upon windows and rocks and walls and anything else that made noise under the raindrops. No one felt particularly eager to get out of bed.

Daisuke, however, had risen at what would have been first light if the sun was visible, since he'd not been able to get much sleep the night before. Though he had been quite tired, and gone to bed quite late, he had not had any success in falling asleep for more than a few minutes at a time. Eventually, he gave up.

The walls felt constricting, the house like a prison. Against what most people would have considered common sense, he threw on a waterproof cloak and hood and went outside to wander the gardens aimlessly.

There would still be workers in the fields that day, for the work of planting still needed to be finished, and the rain, though steady, was not terribly awful. There could be no lost days. If the crops were not planted, they would not be harvested, and there would be no money.

The stream that flowed behind the house was bubbling quickly with the rain, churning steadily. Without really thinking about a destination, Daisuke headed for it, passing by the kitchen entrance as he walked. A few servants were already at work lighting fires and beginning to prepare breakfast.

He continued on, past the flower beds and the small graveyard before he reached a small fruit tree with low overhanging branches. Had the leaves been upon them, it would have sheltered him completely from the rain, but even without them, there was some relief.

The kitchen door opened, and Daisuke could hear voices in the distance calling to each other, though they were too far to be understood. He watched as the raindrops steadily fell into the water, joining the turbulent stream. The water bubbled as it went over rocks and around curves, carrying a few fallen blossoms or old leaves as it traveled.

He was thinking depressing and sobering thoughts, and yet trying not to think them at the same time. The question of who was to blame for what had happened recently – and what could have happened – had been gnawing at him since Takeru had arrived unexpectedly with a message to appear at Westernmost Point. He had come to no clear conclusions, could think of no one alive (or dead for that matter) who might hate him so much.

There was, of course, the possibility that it was not directed toward him personally, but toward his family, but that way of thinking had not caused Daisuke to think of any further suspects. Jun, having thought along similar lines, had questioned their father on the subject, but he did not admit to having made serious enemies of any wizards, and they could think of no reason why he would have lied about such a thing.

He sat down in the grass, ignoring the dampness, because he although he was not able to sleep, he was too tired to stand on the stream bank all day. Resting his head in his hands, Daisuke rubbed his eyes and shook his head.

"I don't know!" he said to no one in particular.

"Don't know what?" came a voice from behind him, and Daisuke turned sharply, not having heard anyone come closer. A boy, carrying an overflowing bucket of water, was standing a short distance away, a curious expression on his face.

"Shijo?" Daisuke asked when his heart had resumed beating at an acceptable speed. "What are you doing?"

"Carrying water into the kitchen," the boy replied, nodding toward the bucket he carried. He was dressed, as Daisuke was, in a cloak and hood designed to keep the rain off, but it was a bit too large for him, and he was barely visible beneath the edge of it.

"I see that," he said with a sigh, and absently wondered if his headache was because of not having had enough sleep or some other reason entirely. "I meant what are you doing here? I thought you went home for a while."

"I did," Shijo answered, "but then there was a Gazimon in the forest, and it was thought that I should stay here."

"It was thought?" Daisuke echoed.

"Your sister said that I should help in the kitchen," he went on, "so I've been carrying water and firewood and doing dishes and mopping floors…."

He went on, but Daisuke had stopped listening, his mind heading in another direction. "Gazimon?" he interrupted.

"There was a swordsman," the boy replied, "and his Gazimon attacked me, and then tried to get away in a mini-cyclone. Agumon and I grabbed on to him, and I got his necklace."

"His necklace?"

In answer, the boy pulled at the gemstone that he had tied around his neck, and held it up. Even in the dim, hazy light of the cloud-covered morning, Daisuke could tell it was the same sort of stone that had been in the crystal Takeru had used to teleport.

"A teleportation crystal? The Gazimon had one?"

Shijo nodded, and went on to tell the story of exactly how he and his Agumon had managed to pry the crystal from the furry digimon, but Daisuke found that his mind was once more heading in another direction. The Gazimon had attacked Shijo, sought him out specifically, if the story was to be believed.

_Ken must have thought he was in danger,_ Daisuke realized. _That's why he's here._ He sighed and leaned back against the tree behind him. How many more people, he wondered, would get hurt? How could he stop it?

* * *

The room was quiet, dark, and cool. Raindrops pounded steadily upon the window a short distance away. A fire quietly crackled in the fireplace. Outside the door, a few footsteps could be heard in the hall, but no voices.

Hikari opened her eyes to find that the ceiling directly above the bed was beginning to peel a bit. A small section of paint had disconnected from the surface and was curling in on itself. Even in the dim light she could see it clearly.

She turned her head toward the door, and saw that the room was empty, so she pushed back the covers and sat up. The room was cool but not cold. Turning toward the window, she saw that the outside world was dim and gray.

Tailmon was yawning and stretching at the end of the bed. V-mon was already awake, but still lying on his back, apparently not interested in moving. As Hikari sat up, both digimon turned their heads toward her.

"Everything all right now?" Tailmon questioned, and she nodded.

There was a soft carpet beneath the bed, which felt warm beneath her toes when she turned to place them there. She wiggled her toes, feeling the plush fibers between them, and smiled.

"Are you sure you shouldn't wait a bit?" V-mon asked, rolling over onto his stomach so he could better see. Hikari only shook her head absently.

She reached out with one hand for the bedpost to steady herself as she shifted her weight onto her legs and stood up. It felt strange to be standing after so much time. How long had it been? A week? Two? It felt like so much longer.

Her steps were wobbly, but Hikari managed to make it as far as the window without falling or tripping over her own feet. She leaned against the window frame and peered out at the world beyond. The gardens were rain-soaked, and there were no people in them as there might ordinarily have been.

"Are you really going out there?" V-mon wondered, making a face. Tailmon followed suit, scowling at the rain.

"I am," Hikari said, and was surprised to find that her voice sounded clear in the silence of the room. She looked down at her toes, which were bare, and decided not to bother with shoes. She didn't bother with dressing, either, because she wasn't sure what had been done with her clothes.

There had been some in the carriage when she'd traveled with Takeru, she recalled, and wondered if they had been retrieved. The day before, she'd worn a dress that was borrowed from Jun, and the day before that as well.

There was a cloak hanging on the edge of the bedpost. Hikari wasn't sure who it belonged to, but it was dry and warm, and so she put it on and pulled the hood over her head to keep off the rain.

Neither of the digimon asked her where she was going, or if she knew where to go. Both of them knew the answer to that question.

The hall was quiet and empty of people. The entrance hall had a hundred small puddles, the result of having a dozen or so men in wet boots stand within it before they departed for the fields. Beyond the front door, the dim sounds of men's voices mingled in a crowd.

Hikari turned and headed down a corridor toward the kitchen and the back of the house. Another crowd, this one of servants and cooks, each very busy, filled the kitchen.

Cooks were adding things to boiling pots, chopping vegetables or fish, rolling and shaping dough to be baked. Others were adding wood to fires so those pots could boil or the breads could bake. A pile of dishes was already growing in a large sink, and a half-dozen boys were elbow deep in sudsy water, scrubbing at plates and pots and cups while another group dried them all with towels and rags. In the midst of the chaos, an equal number of digimon mingled with the crowd, intent on their own tasks. Two or three Agumon were busy watching the fires. Several Piyomon were directing the cooks, reading recipes aloud, or carrying ingredients quickly from one side of the room to the other. A few Gotsumon were carrying heavy buckets of water or piles of wood.

None of them paid the least attention to Hikari, for each was absorbed in his or her own task. She slipped through, trying to avoid tripping over Gotsumon or getting in the way of a cook, and found the exit to the back of the house without difficulty.

After the chaos of the kitchen, the back of the house was quiet and empty. A short distance away, a small cemetery added to the weight of the silence. The steady rainfall pounded relentlessly, the sound of it drowning out the voices and clattering from the kitchen.

The ground was soft and muddy, but not terribly cold, and Hikari did not mind the mud between her toes. She did not bother lifting the hem of her nightgown, because she sensed that it would be a fruitless task, attempting to keep clean and dry. The hood of the cloak was well secured, however, and she was not cold.

A short distance past the kitchen, her toes found the grass, and the soft, wet carpet cleaned her feet (though not her clothes) of the mud. She could hear the sound of the bubbling stream a short distance away, and made her way in that direction.

She paused a short distance from a large fruit tree with low, overhanging branches, and looked at the water as it bubbled in the stream. Raindrops splashed quietly into the water, the ripples fading quickly, only to be replaced with another set a moment later.

A small pink blossom, having fallen from the fruit tree, was floating in the stream, tossed about like a thin, delicate raft as it sped around corners and through narrow passageways between the rocks. It caught her eye, and Hikari found that she was still watching its progress as she continued walking.

An inconvenient rock introduced itself to her toe, and as she was still somewhat unsteady on her feet, Hikari lost her balance. She took a step forward, but failed to recover it, and found her legs collapse beneath her so that she landed in a heap on the grass.

There was no serious damage. Her toe was insulted more than injured, and the soft grass had cushioned her fall quite comfortably. Though she was now quite a bit more damp than before, Hikari found she was otherwise unhurt.

"Are you all right?" said a voice unexpectedly.


	21. Light

**The Ancient Curse**

Part 21:** Light**

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon,_ all related characters, etc, does not belong to me. Plot, however, does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

* * *

It was a quiet sort of thud that, lost within his own morose thoughts, Daisuke was not likely to have noticed. It was followed quickly, however, by a quiet but still audible gasp of surprise, and that caught his attention. He turned his head and saw that someone had apparently fallen to the ground a short distance away.

It appeared to be a young woman, though beneath the hood of her cloak he could not see her clearly. He wondered if his sister had sent one of the maids after him.

"Are you all right?" he asked, and, at the sound of his voice, she went very still, almost as though she was frightened.

He got to his feet, took a few steps forward, and saw her head bob up and down in response to his question. He took another step forward and held out his hand so he could help her up.

"Here," he said quietly, and she slowly lifted her head to look at him.

The moment Hikari's eyes met his, he froze. The hand he had been holding out to her fell back to his side and for a long moment of silence, nothing happened except that they stared at each other.

The rain pattered on, quietly tapping at their hoods. A gentle breeze rustled the branches of the tree and sent a few more blossoms flying, and shaking free a few water droplets.

"H-how did you…?" Daisuke began, and then dropped down to his knees in the grass beside her. "How did you get here?"

There was no one else there. The kitchen was not so far away, but the space between them and there was empty of people and digimon. Daisuke turned his head toward the house and then toward the stream, searching for some unknown person who might have carried her there.

"I walked," Hikari said. Her voice was quiet, but clear, and easily heard over the quiet pattering of the rain. Slowly, Daisuke turned his head back toward her.

His eyes were wide open, his face twisted into an expression of confusion. "Did you_ say_…you…_walked_?" he asked.

She nodded. "I walked," she said again.

"How…?" Daisuke began, but was interrupted by a shout coming from near the house. Distantly, he could hear his sister calling his name across the grounds. He started to get to his feet, but Hikari took his hand, holding him down.

"Wait. There are things I need to tell you," she said. "Explanations. Things that you should know…that _only_ you should know."

Daisuke shook his head, not completely understanding. "Is this…is this temporary?" he asked. "This…?" He waved a hand in her general direction, indicating that he meant her current state.

Hikari shook her head. "No," she answered. "It's not."

He stared at her for another moment, still not completely understanding, and in the silence, they could hear another voice calling from the house, this time perhaps Takeru. Once more Daisuke turned toward the house, and then he turned back.

"You're sure?" he asked, and she nodded. "Do they know?"

"No one knows," Hikari replied. "No one knows except you, and our partners."

"You're sure?" he asked again. "No one saw…?"

"I'm sure."

He glanced back briefly toward the house, and then nodded, as though coming to a conclusion. "Act as though nothing has happened," he said then. As he spoke, he shifted himself and reached forward, putting one hand behind her and another beneath, as though he was about to lift her. "Can you do that?"

"Pretend I can't speak?" she concluded. "Pretend it's an effort to keep my eyes open? I think I can manage that."

Daisuke nodded, and then got to his feet, lifting her as he did so. "That's the plan, then. For the rest of the day, pretend nothing has changed, and then, when we have a chance, we'll figure out what to do next."

He began to walk, and Hikari instinctively leaned in toward him as she usually did when she was being carried. "They'll think you took me out here, in the rain," she said, looking up.

He shrugged.

"They'll yell at you," she went on, lowering her voice to a near whisper as they came closer to the house. "They'll blame you…."

Daisuke paused a few steps from a side entrance to the house that he had led them to. "I'll handle that," he said. "Don't worry."

"There should be another way," Hikari disagreed, but he shook his head.

"You're all right, aren't you?" he asked, and when she nodded, he shrugged again. "Then I don't care."

Before she could say anything further, the door opened, and Yamato stood in the space. For a brief moment, there was silence as all three of them stared at each other, and then, at that precise time, the rain chose to increase its power, and a deluge poured from the skies.

"Get in here!" Yamato demanded, stepping aside, and Daisuke hurriedly passed through the doorway and into the dry, warm interior of the house. Inside, the sound of water dripping from cloaks echoed off the tall ceilings of the hallway.

"What in the hell were you thinking?" Yamato questioned. "You're soaked. Both of you! Were you trying to get her killed?" Apparently not expecting a rational answer, he stormed off down the hall and rounded the nearest corner, then shouted for his brother at the top of his lungs.

If Takeru did not hear the shout, Daisuke thought, he must have something very wrong with his hearing, because it seemed as though it might be possible to hear Yamato from the other side of the kingdom. He glanced down at Hikari, who was looking at him with a bit of concern in her eyes.

Takeru appeared in the hall then, with Jun following behind him. He shook his head at the sight of two rain-soaked people dripping in the hall, and said nothing more, but Jun was a bit more vocal.

"Do you know you scared me half to death?" she questioned of her brother as Takeru helped Hikari out of the cloak, and then took her in his own arms. Beneath it, she was wearing only the nightgown she had been sleeping in, and it, too, was damp. The hem was covered with mud, and her ankles and toes as well.

Daisuke didn't answer, only took his own cloak off and hung it on a hook beside the door. He was wet as well, but not quite so mud covered. When his sister didn't let up in her death glare, he sighed. "I'm sorry," he said then, which didn't help matters.

"Sorry? What's wrong with you? You're soaked! Soaked through, and you brought Hikari outside as well? Don't you know it's raining? What were you trying to accomplish?"

She didn't seem to expect him to answer any of these questions, because she didn't pause between them to wait for a response. When she paused for a breath, Takeru, who had thus far concerned himself only with Hikari's health and not with shouting at Daisuke, said, "I think she needs a nice hot bath, but there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her."

Jun nodded, briefly shooting another glance toward her brother, which might have been murderous if looks could kill. "Come with me," she said then, "I'll arrange it."

Takeru glanced briefly toward Daisuke with a questioning expression, and then nodded, following after Jun with Hikari in his arms. Hikari glanced briefly back over his shoulder toward Daisuke, another concerned expression in her eyes.

He said nothing, and was careful to show nothing in his eyes, but he watched the three of them vanish around the corner. When they had gone, he saw that Yamato had been watching him as well.

"You've lost it," he said then, and waved a hand dismissively before following after the others.

* * *

Mid-afternoon, Mimi noted that the clouds were growing darker and thicker, indicating that perhaps the rain that had been threatening for several hours might soon begin to fall. She was glad that she had nothing of importance to do outside, though she wasn't thrilled about not being able to visit the market that day.

Instead, she ventured down into the lower levels of the palace to see if the wizard Koushiro had come to any conclusions. It had been several days since she had last seen him or checked upon his progress, for she'd been busy with several other things and had not made the time for it.

The wizard was half buried under a pile of books so tall that she had difficulty seeing him. He was muttering quietly to himself and occasionally scribbling notes down on a scrap of paper nearby. He did not look up at the sound of his door creaking open nor at the sight of his visitor, but Mimi was neither surprised nor insulted.

She crossed the room and took a seat on the unoccupied stool on the opposite side of the small table covered with books. A short distance away she noted the subject of the wizard's current project, a necklace with a red jewel in the center, a teleportation crystal disguised quite nicely as jewelry.

It was a plain enough stone, set in a serviceable but not overly gaudy golden surround. Studying it closely, Mimi saw that light reflected off the stone and bounced it to other walls in the room.

Tentomon had been napping upon one of the upper bookshelves, but he had noticed the presence of the visitor before his partner did, and now he roused himself and flew down to rest atop a pile of books.

"Have you come to any conclusions?" Mimi asked of the digimon, since Koushiro was still quite absorbed in his research.

The insect digimon shrugged. "It's old," he replied. "Older than we originally thought. It might perhaps go back to the founding of the kingdom."

Mimi squinted at the jewel in her hands. "It doesn't look that old."

"Looks can be deceiving, I suppose," Tentomon answered.

Koushiro was quickly scribbling down some words upon the paper. When he reached the end of his sentence, he set down his pen and leaned back in his chair. It was only then that he noticed Mimi, still looking at the jewel.

She glanced up after a moment, feeling his eyes. "The founding of the kingdom?" she said. "Is it really _that_ old?"

"It seems to be," the wizard replied, "providing that I've cast the spells to determine age correctly. I've been trying to determine what powerful, wealthy wizards might have been around at that time, but, I'm afraid, records going back that far are a bit scarce and muddy."

Mimi frowned in thought. "The kingdom was founded by the First King," she recalled, digging in her memories for any recollections of her history lessons. "He united the people and drove out the barbarians who lived here before. With strong magic and the loyalty of his associates, he founded the kingdom and ensured the safety of everyone within his borders." She paused in thought a moment. "Do you think maybe the First King could have made the crystal?"

The idea was exciting, but Koushiro immediately shook his head. "It's not the right sort of magic," he replied. "According to magical history, the succession of the Kings of Yagami is assured by the presence of a certain type of magic. That type of magic isn't the sort that was used to create that crystal. The First King couldn't have made it."

"So it was someone else at the same time as the First King, right?" Mimi concluded. "Maybe someone the First King actually knew?"

"That's a possibility," the wizard admitted. "There isn't really any way to know for certain, but I might be able to narrow that down if I had any idea which of the First King's nobles was a wizard. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to find a list of them which doesn't differ from every other list in existence, and it's hard to determine which of them is right."

"It is a task for an historian," Tentomon stated. "Not a wizard."

His partner sighed in agreement.

"Are there any around?" Mimi wondered. "Historians, that is?"

"Not very many I would trust with something this important," Koushiro admitted, and sighed. "There aren't many interested in history nowadays." He frowned in thought. "The only one who ever cared much for history around here was the last King."

* * *

The rain began to let up in the late afternoon, and by the time the sun began to sink, it was beginning to be visible between the clouds. A single Piyomon, messenger carrier, paused to catch his breath upon the rafters of the house before flying down to enter through a window.

Daisuke was rummaging through his bedroom, searching for a clean, mostly not-wrinkled shirt. At his sister's insistence, he'd taken a hot bath and changed clothes, and now he was searching through his wardrobe for one that was not in awful shape. Halfway through the pile, he gave up and settled on a long-sleeved tunic instead. He pulled it over his head, and then saw that a Piyomon was watching him, having entered through the window while he was dressing.

"A message?" he asked aloud, and the Piyomon nodded.

"I'm searching for someone named Takeru," the bird digimon replied. "It hasn't been easy to find him. I originally searched at Kido, and then at the palace. They told me there he was at a house on the West Coast, but by the time I got there they told me he had come here." He sighed, then coughed a few times. "Is he here?"

Daisuke nodded. "He is," he replied. "I'll take you to him. Where do you come from?"

"Hida," the Piyomon answered, and then coughed a few times more. "Would it be all right if I rested here a day or so before heading back?"

"Take all the time you want," Daisuke answered. "You sound tired, and it's probably not a good idea to fly in the cold rain with a cough like that."

"Nothing to be done about it," the Piyomon replied with a sigh. "The message had to be delivered."

They'd been walking while they talked, heading down several flights of steps, and now they were at the ground floor of the house. Though he didn't know for certain, Daisuke guessed that Takeru would still be with Hikari, making sure that a good soaking in the cold rain hadn't caused further damage, and so he led the Piyomon in that direction.

He was right. Takeru, Jun, and Yamato were all in the room with Hikari. Yamato and Jun were anxiously and quietly discussing something (Daisuke guessed that it might be him), and Takeru was sitting in a chair near the window, absently peering out at the sunset, lost in thought. Hikari was sleeping, or perhaps only pretending to be.

When the door opened, all four of them turned their heads and eyes toward it, and Daisuke noted that Hikari briefly opened one eye as well. He suppressed a smile, for it seemed she was indeed only pretending to sleep.

"This Piyomon is looking for you, Takeru, and it seems he's gone through a lot of trouble," he said, stepping aside so the bird digimon could enter after him.

The Piyomon entered the room, then took flight and perched upon the bedpost nearest to the window so he could easily see Takeru and speak to him at eye level.

"Looking for me?" Takeru echoed, and got to his feet. "A message?"

"From Hida," replied the Piyomon, and held out a small, waterproof container in which he carried a small roll of paper. "It was hoped," he began, and then interrupted himself with a cough, "it was hoped that I would find you sooner than this."

Takeru frowned briefly at the Piyomon, noting its cough with the ear of one that had studied (if only briefly) a bit of the healing magics. He opened the container and unrolled the paper, reading the words upon it. His eyes grew wider as he did so, and then he sat down in the chair.

"What's wrong?" Yamato asked, and Takeru shook his head.

"There's an illness in Hida," he replied. "This message is a few days old, but it seems that some of the elders have become very sick, and some of the young children as well."

"That's how it started," the Piyomon agreed, clearing its throat. "When I left, some of the young men were becoming sick as well. The doctors have been giving them every cold remedy they know, but none of it's doing much good. Lord Hida said that you had learned some healing magic, and so they sent me to find you." He paused, coughing once more. "I was healthy when I left."

"Flying in the cold rain probably hasn't helped matters," Jun noted sympathetically. "Can you help them, Takeru?"

Takeru stood up again, setting down the message, and placed one hand upon the head of the Piyomon. He was quiet a moment, frowning in concentration, and all eyes in the room were upon him. Tailmon and V-mon sat up, interested, and Hikari forgot about pretending to be asleep and watched as well.

If any of them had possessed magical sight, they would have seen a faint glow surrounding the Piyomon as Takeru assessed what was wrong with the bird. He could tell by way of magic that the lungs were tired from coughing, and tired further by the exertion of the journey. He easily found other problems as well, tired joints and bones that would only become more tired with time, and a tightening of vessels in the head that would cause a powerful headache in time. The lungs and throat were beginning to fill with a mucus that the bird digimon's tired coughs were not enough to expel.

"It's like a cold," Takeru mumbled quietly, almost to himself, "but not exactly. Something is different about it." He frowned in thought, and then shifted the focus of his mind toward remembering the healing spells which would aid the problems. He gave a bit of strength to the lungs so that the Piyomon might breathe more easily, and a bit of energy to the bones so that the aching would not be so great. Easing the headache that had not yet begun was simple enough as well.

"The rest," he said when he had finished and removed his hands from the bird digimon, "will require rest."

The bird digimon nodded. "That, I think I can manage," he replied, already looking as though he was quite ready to get to sleep.

"Can you help them?" Jun questioned once more. All eyes in the room were upon Takeru now.

"If they're all sick of the same thing as this Piyomon, it won't be too hard," he replied, "though if it's the whole village, it might take some time."

Yamato had been watching his brother with a serious and thoughtful expression. Though there had been some suspicion and speculation about the nature and existence of his magical ability, it appeared that Takeru did actually know something about healing magic. "It will take some time to get to Hida, too," he pointed out. "At least three days from here, maybe more."

"We could fly," Patamon piped up.

"Even that would take a day or two," Takeru reminded his partner with a frown. "It's too bad that Piyomon couldn't find me sooner. By the time I get there…."

"Teleport," Daisuke interrupted before he could continue down this thought towards a rather pessimistic conclusion. All eyes in the room turned toward him now. "You'd be there in an instant."

Takeru shook his head. "I gave Taichi the crystal I had, remember? To give to Koushiro, in the hopes he could figure something out about where it came from."

"There's another one," Daisuke replied.

* * *

surprise. this story has passed twenty chapters.

i have planned an ending, and i am nearly there. if you have been reading, i hope you are not eager for an end, because there will be at least nine more chapters. perhaps more. if you are not eager for the ending, then i am sorry but all things must end eventually.

i am sorry to report that there will be some more (badly written) mushy, gooey, emotional stuff in the near future. my advice would be not to eat anything sick and heavy before you read chapters in the future. consider that your warning.

that's enough babbling from me. thanks for reading.

* * *


	22. Feelings Explored

**The Ancient Curse**

Part 22: **Feelings Explored**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon,_ characters, merchandise, etc, does not belong to me. Plot, however, does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Thank you. Moo.

***

Miyako and Ken had been walking northwest almost since sunrise, having stopped only briefly for shelter when the rain had become too heavy to walk. When it had once again reverted to a light drizzle, they resumed walking, turning their path more to the north.

As the sun began to sink, Ken halted his steps at no place in particular, in the center of a small clearing, and set down his bag. After a moment, Miyako paused and looked back toward him.

"We can't keep walking all night," he stated. "We'll need to rest eventually."

She frowned, as though preparing to disagree with him, and opened her mouth to speak.

Before anything further could be said, the air briefly shimmered, and a dozen swordsmen appeared between them. They formed a circle around each of them, and filled the space in between them as well. Another half-second later, each of them had drown his blade and pointed it toward the center of the circle.

Miyako thought to raise a shield, but before she could do more than slightly twitch her fingers, the swordsman directly in front of her raised his sword higher, so that it was quite near to her neck. Hawkmon, near her feet, looked upward in time to notice a brief flicker of fear cross his partner's face before she schooled her features into annoyance.

For what seemed like an eternity, there was silence. No one moved, digimon, human, nor swordsman. Miyako dared to turn her eyes away from the swordsman directly in front of her, toward Ken. She wondered if she imagined that he winked at her.

There was a clank of metal on metal a second later, and Miyako saw that in the time it had taken her to blink, Ken had drawn his sword. The blade of it sliced through the abdomen of the nearest swordsman, causing him to step backward as a few drops of bright red blood dripped on to the ground.

Another swordsman had stepped into the space, however, and it was his blade that Ken now met with his own. A bright white light filled the clearing, and a large green bug digimon flew into the fray, sweeping aside a few of the swordsmen with ease.

There were several loud clangs in succession as Ken crossed swords with several different blades, one after the other. For a few moments, all he was aware of was the flash of metal blades as he blocked the blows.

Suddenly, however, the swordsmen vanished, leaving him standing in an open space. For a brief moment, Ken waited, anticipating the next attack.

"Interesting," said a voice that he vaguely recognized, and he turned to see that the man in the white coat with long, dark hair was standing a short distance away. He had not drawn his own weapon, though the handle of the sword was visible behind him.

Another cluster of swordsmen, dressed in black, was standing a short distance behind their leader, weapons still drawn and pointed inward, toward Miyako. She was frowning severely, but he thought he could detect a bit of worry in her eyes.

"Interesting?" Ken echoed, pulling his focus away from Miyako and turning back toward the man with the long hair. He lowered his sword only slightly, relaxing his arms. He narrowed his eyes at the man. "What do you want?"

He curved his lips into a cruel smirk of a smile. "One of you will come with me," he replied, spreading his hands out in a welcoming sort of gesture. "I shall allow you to choose which of you it is."

"Neither of us!" Miyako said from within the circle of swords that surrounded her. Ken thought he might have detected a note of fear in her voice, but it was only a faint and distant hint at the emotion.

The long-haired man turned his smile into a frown and shook his head. "I'm afraid that isn't an option," he stated. "If you cannot decide, I shall take both of you."

Miyako curled her fingers into a fist, and one of the swordsmen stepped forward, moving his sword closer toward her neck. She frowned at him and raised her head, leaning slightly back and away from the blade.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you," the leader of the men warned. He glanced back toward Ken. "And you shouldn't make a move either, unless you want something to happen to her." He nodded his head back toward Miyako, and then narrowed his eyes. "Make a choice."

Ken slowly lowered his sword. As he glanced toward Miyako, he saw a strange expression of worry cross her face. He met her eyes, and slid his weapon into its sheath. He noticed her frown deepen, but she didn't protest. Behind him, a flash of light signaled the de-evolution of Stingmon.

The leader of the swordsmen nodded, a slightly pleased smirk once more appearing upon his face. In an instant, the swordsmen who had vanished reappeared, each once more pointing a sword toward Ken. He looked toward Miyako and she was almost certain that she saw him wink this time.

He spread his arms wide, indicating that he did not intend to resist further. One of the swordsmen stepped forward and removed the sword and its sheath from Ken's belt, disarming him. Another stepped forward, reaching for his arm.

Ken guessed that with the touch he would vanish, and he glanced once more toward Miyako before this happened. She had not moved except to shut her eyes. Was she perhaps planning something – a spell that she did not need her hands to cast? He knew that there were a few she could perform that way, but he did not know which ones, or if they would be at all useful in this situation.

No sooner had he had these thoughts, than a sharp gust of wind blew directly between himself and the nearest of the swordsmen. It was strong enough that the man was forced to take a step back. Ken did so as well, instinctively raising one hand to shield his eyes from any dust or debris that flew into the air.

He squinted through the dust, locating Wormmon a short distance away. His partner was relatively safe from flying dust and such, but he took him in his arms before he was inadvertently lost or stepped on. The wind cleared a moment later, and he noticed that he was no longer surrounded by a circle of swordsmen. They had vanished, apparently to regroup.

Miyako stood a short distance away, where she had been standing for some time. "They aren't gone," she said. "They'll be back." Already she was performing had movements that he vaguely recognized as some form of a spell. She was frowning as though she was displeased with him in some way, but she kept silent on any criticism she might have voiced for the time being.

Ken surveyed the now-empty clearing. He had hoped that the swordsmen might have left his sword behind, but it was gone. It felt vulnerable and naked to be without a weapon, but there was nothing to be done about it now.

Locating the bag he had lost before, Ken took a few steps in its direction before he heard a quiet, startled gasp behind him. He turned back and saw that the clearing was empty. Miyako had vanished. Before he could turn another direction, he felt a light touch upon his shoulder and then he was engulfed in darkness.

All was cold and silent for a few heartbeats, and then bright sunlight met his eyes once more. Ken squinted in the brightness. By the time his eyesight had recovered, he saw that whoever had been responsible for transporting him had vanished once more.

He was in a small room with high stone walls. It did not appear as though there were any doors or windows, but when looked upward, he could see that sunlight was streaming in through a grated ceiling, quite some distance above. The room itself was circular, with a hard wooden bench set along one section, otherwise completely empty.

There was no one else there. Wormmon was not present, nor was Miyako. The bars above him were too far upward for him to have any hope of reaching on his own, and even if he could have, it would not have been possible to slip through them nor move them aside.

Distantly, he thought he could hear shouting, but he couldn't tell if it was in anger, fear, or something else. Feeling tired, for he had been walking all day, Ken crossed the small room and sat down upon the wooden bench.

***

Shortly after appearing, Miyako took a step forward, breaking free of the grip of whoever had been responsible for her teleportation, and stumbled on the stone floor. She felt her knees collapse beneath her, and fell to the ground.

The room was dark, with neither windows, lamps, nor fires providing any light. Miyako could see nothing. She could feel cold stone with her hands but knew nothing else about where she might be.

"Hawkmon?" she asked, voice quiet, and waited for her partner's response. When none came, she said, in the same tone, "Ken?"

There was only a dead silence that hung in the air for a long moment. Slowly, unsteady in the darkness, Miyako got to her feet and then hesitantly took a few steps forward, reaching out with her hands. She felt the cold stone of a wall in front of her.

"Hello?" she called into the silence. "Is anyone here?"

The silence swallowed her words. The darkness remained. She considered forging a magical fire with which to see, but decided against it, thinking it might be better to conserve her energy.

"I am here," said a voice then, and she turned to see a man standing a few steps away. He held no lamp, but a ball of magical energy hovered a short distance from his head. It was blue-white in color, and occasionally sparkled, as though tiny bolts of lightning were leaping from its surface. Miyako thought she could feel heat emanating from it as well.

He was dressed in a long white coat which was tied around his waist. His long dark hair fell in a braid behind him. As he spoke, Miyako saw that his eyes held a faint hint of amusement. She had seen him in the forest, and she knew from the description Takeru had given that this was the one who had taken Hikari.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"The one you were traveling with," he said instead, "how much does he mean to you?"

Miyako stared at him for a long moment, feeling as though her heart had leapt into her throat and she could not speak. Fear pulsed through her veins; her blood pounded in her ears. "Don't touch him," she said then, clenching her fist.

A glowing energy ball would do a lot of damage if this man chose to hurl it in her direction. She focused, forcing her mind to run through the spells and magical movements she could recall off the top of her head. A shield spell would be most useful, she knew, but she would eventually need to attack as well as defend.

"I see," said the man. "I wonder…is the feeling returned?"

"Who are you?" Miyako asked again. "Why does that matter?"

He raised one interested eyebrow. "Everything matters," he replied, shrugging in an absent fashion.

"What do you want?" she tried.

He did not answer for a long moment, and then, unexpectedly, his mouth curved into a smile. In an instant, he vanished, and, at exactly the same time, the glowing, crackling energy ball launched itself forward, aiming directly for Miyako.

She raised a shield in an instant, as quickly as she could (and she could do so quite quickly). The ball of energy collided with the edge of her shield and was deflected back into the room. It smashed into the far wall and caused a small explosion. A few bricks flew across the room, disintegrating as they met the shield.

The energy ball had not dissipated, however, and with perhaps stronger speed, it bounced off the wall it had damaged and then ricocheted off another wall a short distance away. More bricks and mortar flew into the room and then the ball once more collided with the shield.

Miyako raised both arms toward the ball of energy, reinforcing the shield, and bracing herself. She held it as long as she could, and then, with a loud noise, the energy ball exhausted its supply of power and exploded.

She was flung backward before she knew what was happening, colliding with the hard brick wall behind her before she could raise another shield to protect herself. Bits of magical energy from the ball now connected with the other walls and small bits of brick and stone exploded into the room, filling it with dust. For a long moment, nothing could be seen.

Miyako squinted through the dust. Her head was pounding, her body aching from the collision, but she was alive and conscious. As the dust and debris settled in the darkness, the voice of her opponent spoke once more.

"What do you search for?" he asked.

"Answers," she replied immediately, slowly struggling to her feet. She leaned against the wall in order to brace herself. Halfway up, her legs gave out, and she sank down to her knees again. "Why are you doing this? Who are you?" She paused, coughed a few times in the dust of the bricks. "Who do you…work for?"

The questions must have intrigued him, for he did not answer immediately. "Why do you suppose that I am working for someone?" he questioned. "Perhaps this is all of my own volition."

"Perhaps," she agreed, though she was not truly convinced. "What do you hope to accomplish?"

"I can't give away all my secrets, can I?" he replied, and then he was gone.

Miyako found that her eyes were unwilling to remain open, and her body unwilling to remain upright, even sitting. She leaned back against the damaged wall and let her eyes fall shut.

A moment later, she felt hands grip hold of her arms, and she did not struggle when they lifted her to her feet. So tired and confused was she that she did not even fight them when, in the darkness, she felt some sort of bindings wrap around her wrists.

"I don't understand," she mumbled sleepily as they made her walk forward. "I don't mean anything to him…."

***

The sun had long since sunk in the western sky. Cool breezes blew across the land, through an open window in a small bedroom on the first floor. Having slept almost continuously for quite some time, she was not particularly tired, despite the late hour.

Tailmon and V-mon, too, had tired of continuous napping and wandered off somewhere, so she was alone in the room. She considered walking over to sit on the window seat, but had decided against it, in case someone happened to come into the room. Instead, she sat in the bed, peering out at the moonlit grounds beyond.

The room itself was only dimly lit. A candle, burned down nearly to its end, sat on the nightstand beside the bed. The fireplace held the last embers of a fire, mostly unneeded for warmth, as the temperature was quite comfortable.

A quiet click came from the doorway, and the door opened a short distance. Daisuke poked his head in through the gap, looked around the small room, and then squeezed himself the rest of the way through, shutting the door behind him.

He crossed the room, a thoughtful expression on his face, as though his mind was quite occupied with something. He sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Takeru left a few minutes ago," he reported after a moment. "He's taken almost every bit of medical supplies in the house with him, along with anything that might be considered a cold remedy and a bag full of books."

Hikari frowned. "Does he seem optimistic?" she wondered.

Daisuke shrugged. "Hard to tell," he admitted. "He's concerned about leaving you more than I think he's concerned about Hida. He seems to think he can handle that."

She nodded, still frowning thoughtfully. It seemed as though there was something further on her mind, but she didn't say anything further upon the subject.

"How are you feeling?" Daisuke asked after the moment had passed.

Hikari looked up, smiling. "I feel fine," she replied cheerfully and then, apparently spontaneously, leaned forward and hugged him. The action surprised him momentarily, but then he sighed happily, smiled, and returned the embrace.

"I'm glad," he said quietly.

"There are things I need to tell you," she said after a bit, pulling away. "The worst may still happen."

"Tell me what you know," Daisuke said in answer, his serious expression returning. "Everything you can."

"I don't know much," Hikari admitted. "I don't even know his name, and I don't know why he's doing this. All I know is that he really doesn't like you. They were ready to kill your sister."

He was quiet for a moment before he answered. "They were ready to kill you, too, weren't they," he said softly. It wasn't a question.

"They wouldn't have minded if that had happened," she admitted, and sighed. "The spells…if you had left and gone after your sister…they would have."

His frown grew deeper. "You showed me what would happen to Jun because you wanted me to go after her."

Hikari nodded. "I did. They intended to kidnap your sister at the moment that it seemed I had recovered a bit. If you didn't go after her, they'd have killed her."

"And if I had gone, you'd have died?" he concluded. "Why - ?"

"I couldn't let her die," she replied, shrugging. Daisuke was staring at her with an incredulous, disbelieving expression on his face. "She's an innocent," Hikari defended. "You wanted me to let her die?"

"No," he replied immediately, and stood up, running his hands through his hair. "No," he repeated, "but…." He shook his head, took a few steps, and then sat back down.

"And you didn't leave," Hikari reminded him. "I thought you might, but you didn't."

"No," Daisuke said once more, sighing. "I didn't."

She waited a moment, to see if he would elaborate on this, or perhaps explain his reasoning, but he said nothing more. Another moment passed in silence, and then he sighed yet again.

"I'm sure I won't understand half of the explanation," he said, "but how did the spells break?"

"Takeru was right; the spell was tied to emotion. Not my emotions, though. Yours."

"Mine?" he echoed blankly, and shook his head. "I don't understand. The only emotion I've been feeling is confused."

Hikari smiled. "Not the _only_ emotion," she replied. "You've also been feeling afraid and helpless."

"That, too," he admitted with a shrug. "You're saying that me feeling afraid and helpless somehow helped break the spells?"

"No," she replied. "Not those particular emotions. You were feeling something else yesterday – and when the carriage tipped over."

Daisuke considered for a long moment, and then shook his head. "No, I'm still pretty much only remembering fear," he answered.

"Are you sure about that?" Hikari asked. She was smiling as though she knew some sort of secret, and she leaned forward, stretched out one hand, and placed it on the side of his face.

He blinked, his confused expression slowly transforming into a smile. "Well…," he said then. "Maybe not _only _fear."

A cool breeze danced through the gardens, rustling the curtains. Outside, the quiet chirping of nocturnal insects broke the silence of the night. Inside the room, lips met once more, and two minds connected with a kiss.

"It isn't fear now, is it?" Hikari questioned, pulling back, looking toward him, and studying his face. When he shook his head, she smiled once more. "That's the feeling."

Daisuke shut his eyes, as though immersing himself within feelings and emotions, and took a deep breath. "I'm not sure I understand," he said after a moment, "how that feeling…how me feeling that…broke the spells. Are you saying that somehow the magic linked the two of us?"

"That's one way of looking at it, I think," she answered. "The building I was in had a barrier around it, do you remember that?" When he nodded, she continued, "it was designed to only allow a certain type of person to pass through, and you happened to be the first person to pass through who fit those requirements."

"Requirements?" Daisuke echoed, frowning.

"You haven't got magic," Hikari clarified. "The barrier would only have allowed one person to pass through – a person who didn't possess any magical abilities. If someone else had tried before you, then they would have been able to go through."

He continued frowning, but said nothing further, and so she went on.

"The spells were designed to weaken me, but only temporarily. The first person to come in contact with me after they were cast would be the person who would lend me energy. That," she said, smiling, "was also you."

"Lend you energy?" Daisuke echoed blankly. "Are you saying that _I _was giving you energy?"

Hikari nodded. "So long as you were nearby, a bit of your energy would be transferred to me. You wouldn't know it, and you wouldn't feel any different, but it would be enough to keep me alive."

"Keep you alive," he repeated, his voice distant. Now it was Hikari who was surprised when he suddenly reached out and pulled her in close. For a long moment, there was only silence, and neither moved.

***


	23. Pain Is Life

**The Ancient Curse**

Part 23: **Pain Is Life**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all related money, etc, does not belong to me. Plot, however, does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

***

Tired, Ken had fallen to sleep not long after he'd laid down upon the bench. He awoke to find himself in a completely different space, with no memory of having been brought there.

This room was still circular, with neither windows nor doors, and a metal grating at the top through which now flowed bright, blinding sunlight. He squinted in the brightness for a moment and then sat up.

He was now lying not upon the wooden bench upon which he had fallen asleep, but on a thin blanket on the cold stone floor. He sat up, feeling stiff and sore and almost as tired as he had when he'd fallen to sleep. There was a strange sort of tingling in his muscles and in the back of his mind: magic was present.

Ken blinked a few times, rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and studied the room around him. It was mostly empty except for a small wooden platform at the center of the space. Upon this platform lay what initially appeared to be a pile of dusty rags, but after a moment's examination turned out to be a young woman.

"Miyako," he said at the moment he realized the fact of her identity. He got to his feet and took a few steps forward.

His right hand tingled as he met the barrier; a curious sensation. He frowned thoughtfully and then placed his left hand at the same spot. Here, again, he felt the same tingling, as though his muscles had been asleep and were now slowly awakening.

A short distance away, Miyako groaned aloud and shifted positions, curling herself up as though she was in pain. Alarmed, Ken pushed aside the thoughts of this strange tingling and attempted to take another step forward, hoping that perhaps he might be able to force his way through the magic.

He halted his attempts briefly when Miyako's groaning grew louder, but then he redoubled his efforts, attempting to force his foot through the barrier. He could feel it bending to his will, yielding to the pressure of his weight.

"No," Miyako said then. "Stop, please, don't."

Her voice was like a whisper, a pleading whine. Ken wondered if somehow they were managing to hurt her from a distance or if she was only delusional from the pain. He pushed harder against the barrier and could feel it bend further beneath his hands.

Miyako screamed aloud; the sound of it was enough to make Ken halt his efforts. He took a step backward and reflexively placed both hands upon his ears, wincing from the volume of it. Almost immediately, the sound stopped.

He stared at her for a long moment, attempting to discover if there were, in fact, invisible assailants at that moment within the barrier. Seeing nothing, he took a step forward once more, toward the edge of the magical boundary.

"No," Miyako said before he could try. She was slowly sitting up, an action which appeared very difficult even from this distance. "Don't…Ken…don't."

"I think I can get through it, Miyako," he said, trying to make his voice sound reassuring. "It'll just take a little time."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Don't…I can't…it's…."

Ken reached forward, placing his right hand on the invisible barrier once more. The tips of his fingers tingled with the feeling of magic. Miyako gasped aloud and bent over at the waist, doubled over with some mysterious pain.

"The barrier," she said. "Stop…."

"I can get through it," Ken repeated. He bent his fingers and thought he could feel _something_ almost solid, though invisible. He could feel it bend and flex beneath his fingertips.

"It's connected…to me," Miyako managed to whisper, and Ken stopped all action. He pulled back his hand and stared at her.

"Connected?" he repeated.

"Don't…touch it…," she mumbled, once more pulling herself upright. "It…hurts."

Ken took another step backward, so that he was now a full step away from the barrier. He stared at the empty space he knew contained the invisible wall, and then stared in horror at his own hand, with which he had been attempting to pass through it. He sat down on the cold stone floor.

Miyako was breathing heavily still, but with the pain abating in intensity she was able to sit upon the platform. She turned her eyes toward Ken, and he could see, even across the distance that separated them, that they were slightly unfocused from the pain.

"The foundational supports," she mumbled, "are connected, by magic, to my…pain receptors…I think. Something like that."

"Foundational supports," Ken echoed dumbly. He shook his head as though to clear it. "What did they do to you?"

Miyako shook her own head. "I'm fine," she said, though her tone of voice suggested the opposite. "I've just…exhausted my magic."

"And you're hurt," he said. "I've…."

"No," she interrupted, the volume of her voice increasing momentarily in intensity. Almost immediately, however, she lost this burst of energy. "It's not your fault. You did…what I would have done."

Energy waning, she laid down upon the platform once more, though she did not close her eyes. "The barrier extends about five of my steps past this platform," she went on, reporting her knowledge. "I can't walk past it, I've tried, and apparently," she turned her eyes toward him, "neither can anyone else."

Ken was quiet a long moment, lost in his thoughts. Miyako let her eyes shut, turning her head upward so that the warm sunlight passed over her. "I don't understand…I don't mean anything to Daisuke. Why…?"

"You keep saying that," Ken said then, "but I don't think it's true."

She frowned, saying nothing.

"You're helping him, aren't you?" he went on. "You've always helped him."

"I'm helping Hikari," Miyako disagreed. "It just so happens that the two of them…connect."

Ken decided not to disagree on this point. If she desired, Miyako could argue a point for hours (often, he reflected, with Daisuke), but such an argument would tire her and she was already weak.

"Either way," he said, "whoever's doing this will likely interpret your actions as helping _Daisuke_."

"Hmm," was all she had to say to this.

"Also," Ken went on, "you've been spending enough time examining magic. Maybe you were getting too close to an answer."

"Maybe," Miyako conceded, sighing. "In any case, it looks like we're going to have to wait for him to come and rescue us."

***

"I'm not going," Jun repeated. She had gotten to her feet and placed both hands on her hips and was now staring at her brother with an intense expression. If Miyako could argue with Daisuke for hours, Jun could easily do so for days, and had done so on numerous occasions. She seemed quite capable of doing so now.

The group of four – plus four digimon – was sitting in a bright, sunny parlor which overlooked the rear gardens and the quiet stream beyond. Daisuke had decided to waste no further time, and had simultaneously presented his sister and Yamato both with the fact of Hikari's well-being and his plan to immediately transport the them all to the palace, which was easily the safest place in the kingdom.

Jun had immediately opposed the idea, and any attempts thus far to dissuade her had failed. Daisuke, however, was not prepared to easily admit defeat, especially after the vision Hikari had shown him, which still hung in his mind and appeared at random occasions.

"Staying isn't an option," he said then, and got to his feet as well. "There is barely any magical protection here to keep you safe, and nothing to stop a teleporting swordsman from appearing in your bedroom while you sleep."

During this speech, he had narrowed his eyes and frowned severely, giving all present the impression of his seriousness. This very expression had twice worked to silence Miyako, and it had a similar effect here. Yamato, sitting calmly nearby, raised both eyebrows, and Hikari (who had slept through the previous display) shifted backward in her seat, eyes wide.

Jun was not so affected, however. "I'm not going," she replied, and then, once more, ran through her list of quite logical reasons for remaining behind. "I'm not leaving you alone. Father needs one of us here so long as the planting is going on, and that won't be over for at least a few more days. Leaving you here alone would only result in disaster."

Daisuke frowned more severely at this statement than before, but didn't disagree.

"I've got three different dresses that are scheduled to be finished in the next few days as well, and I'm very much in need of them. I'm not heading off to the palace wearing last year's dresses, covered with patches and stains."

"You're worried about your clothes?" Daisuke echoed in disbelief. He shook his head and opened his mouth to speak further on this topic.

Jun didn't give him a chance to go on. "I'm not going to the palace looking like a lady's maid!" she retorted sharply. "You might not mind if you wear the same shirt for a week, but I haven't got such a luxury!"

Again, Yamato raised both eyebrows, this time even harder, and Hikari blinked a few times. The two observers exchanged glances, wondering if they ought not to be present for this argument.

"Will it matter what you're wearing when you're dead?" Daisuke returned quickly. "There isn't any magical protection here! They could kill you in an instant and you wouldn't even know it!" He waved one arm, gesturing toward the wall, as though all could see that there were no spells insulating them.

"If they were going to kill me, they've had plenty of chances over the last week!" Jun answered, her voice raised nearly to a shout. "There hasn't been much magical protection on this house in centuries and I'm sure every wizard in the kingdom knows there are no wizards in Motomiya. Yamato hasn't got any magic either, so he can't have been the only thing stopping them."

"Well, I," Yamato began when Daisuke glanced briefly in his direction, but couldn't think of anything to say to this and so simply shrugged. What Jun had said _was_ true.

Daisuke threw up both his hands in a gesture of frustration, and grumbled something without words. He took a few steps toward the window and then sighed and turned back, apparently having composed himself. "You're going to the palace," he said in a somewhat calmer voice, "one way or the other. I don't care if I have to drug you and throw you in the back of a carriage while you're sleeping. I don't care if I deliver you while you're in your nightgown!"

His voice had steadily grown less and less calm with each word, until he was finally shouting at the end of it.

Jun was not intimidated. "You do that, and I'll kill you myself," she replied with equal volume.

The argument had degenerated almost to the point of childish insults. Brother and sister glared at each other, steps apart. Hoping to break the impasse, Yamato cleared his throat loudly.

"I'm sure there wouldn't be any harm in waiting a few more days," he suggested diplomatically. Daisuke didn't seem to particularly care for this idea. He said nothing, but folded his arms across his chest and scowled.

"Yamato and I could go ahead," Hikari offered, and at the sound of her voice – still unexpected after days of silence – all present turned in her direction. "The two of you could follow in a few days, when the planting and the dresses have been finished."

"I like that idea," Jun admitted, and all eyes turned toward Daisuke.

He was still frowning, and still looking at Hikari.

"You also could wait for Miyako to return," Gabumon suggested, ever the peacemaker. "She would easily solve the problem of magical protection."

"Yeah, but who knows when she'll return," Daisuke pointed out with a sigh. "Once she's involved in a magical puzzle…."

"It could take more time than waiting for the planting to finish," V-mon agreed. "Especially if she finds something interesting."

"The likelihood is that she will find something interesting," Tailmon said with a thoughtful frown.

"Yeah," Daisuke agreed. He sat down in the nearest chair. Once more he looked toward Hikari, and then he sighed again. "All right. I'll wait for you," he said to his sister.

"And we'll go on ahead?" Yamato concluded, glancing briefly toward Hikari. When she nodded, he got to his feet. "If it's all right, I'll borrow a few guards to come with us. They might not be much help, but they'll help me _feel_ better."

Daisuke shrugged, waving a hand. "Take as many as you want," he said, pessimistically thinking that the entire regiment wouldn't be of much help, either on the journey or where they were. Though Yamato had been training them well, ordinary guardsmen weren't much of a threat to swordsmen who could appear and vanish in an instant.

Yamato left, Gabumon following behind, off to enlist as many volunteers as possible for the trip. When they'd left, Jun studied her brother for a moment.

"Everything's going to be fine," she said, attempting to cheer him. "It'll only be a few more days, and then we'll follow. I'm sure that _you_ can keep me safe, right?"

His expression of defeated pessimism had not changed. Daisuke looked up from his chair with a frown and sighed. "Let's hope so," he said gloomily.

"I've never seen him so grumpy," Alraumon commented to her partner as they left the room. "You'd think he'd be more happy about your impending demise."

"You'd think," Jun agreed with a shrug, shutting the door behind her.

Hikari waited in the silence for a few moments before she got to her feet. Her legs were still a bit wobbly, and she had not regained her balance completely, but she was capable of holding herself upright, and so she crossed the room and took a chair closer to Daisuke, sitting across from him.

"It was only a _possible_ future," she said after another moment had passed. "It doesn't mean that she's definitely going to die."

Daisuke sighed and leaned back in the chair, studying the ceiling above him as he spoke. "I know," he said, "but it's hard to get the thought out of my head." He lowered his head once more. "How do you deal with it? Seeing people die?"

"I've only ever really seen _you_ die," Hikari replied, "and I promise you it wasn't ever easy."

"You saw _me_ die?" he asked, sitting upright.

"Several times, actually," she answered. "In fact, when you were missing, that was one reason I was pretty sure you were still alive – because I hadn't seen you die."

"I didn't die any of the other times, either," Daisuke pointed out.

"No," Hikari admitted, "but you've come very close."

He sighed, leaning back in the chair once more. "I wish Miyako hadn't gone," he admitted. "I'd feel much better about you traveling with some kind of magical protection."

"I could stay here," she told him. "There's nothing saying I _have_ to go back right away."

Before she'd even finished speaking, however, Daisuke had started shaking his head. "This place is the most unsafe place in the kingdom, I'm sure of it. You're better off going back to the palace, where your brother will be quite happy to see you, I'm sure."

Hikari smiled absently at the thought of it, and then sighed. "If you think so," she said, "but I am capable of protecting myself."

"And I'm capable of helping," Tailmon interjected, reminding them both that she was still present.

"I'm not disputing that," Daisuke assured both of them, holding up both hands in a gesture of peace. "I'm only saying that I don't want to risk anything more happening to you."

V-mon yawned from where he'd been lying on an overstuffed armchair since before the meeting had begun. "I suppose I could protect people, too," he said, sounding as though he was ready for a nap.

"Are you sure?" Daisuke questioned. "You don't look as though you could save yourself from sleepiness."

fyi: the title of this chapter (oh i'm so horrible at chapter titles) is taken from an elton john song called "pain". it's from the album _made in england_.

several other chapter titles in the past have been taken from/inspired by song lyrics. i would do that more often, but it's difficult to find an appropriate lyric. in this case, i listened to the song until i found something that fit. the song is told from the perspective of pain...as though pain was a living creature...and so that didn't much apply to the chapter, but maybe this phrase works.

that is all.


	24. Searching

**The Ancient Curse**

Part 24: **Searching**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all related characters, money, etc, is not mine. Plot, however, is. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

***

Hida was still cold, even though it was well into springtime now. The nights dipped nearly to freezing temperatures, and a cold breeze blew down from the north that didn't aid in the healing of any patients.

Takeru had magically arrived in Hida for the second time two days ago now, and had spent every waking moment attempting to do something about the problem of the illness that was present. Though he could have magically healed each of the villagers with ease, to do so would have exhausted him to the point of his own death, and so he'd been forced to come up with something else to help him.

He'd healed those that had been the most deathly ill, and then commandeered the room Koushiro ordinarily occupied and used it for the relatively simple task of creation of a healing potion. It was made of local plants and a few interesting magical ingredients that Koushiro had luckily had on hand. Takeru had debated, but ultimately decided that the wizard wouldn't mind a bit of borrowing if it was for a good cause.

The second night, Iori had enlisted a few healthy men to drag the young healer to bed, for he was looking rather exhausted himself. And so it was that Takeru found himself lying upon a large, comfortable mattress, with several warm blankets on top of him and several pillows behind his head.

The sun was already shining brightly through the nearest window, indicating that it was long past dawn. Patamon was sleeping comfortably at the foot of the bed, curled up in the blankets, snoring lightly. Outside, the sound of Piyomon conversation was like music in the air.

Takeru sat up and immediately felt as though doing so might have been a bad idea. His head was pounding around his eyes, and his body ached all over. "Don't tell me I'm getting sick," he mumbled to himself, and laid back down.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Iori said from nearby, and Takeru turned to see that the youngest of the Chosen was sitting in a comfortable armchair a short distance away. "You've hardly slept since you've arrived, and you've spent all your time around those that are ill. That's usually a quick way to get sick."

Iori was, as always, quite practical about matters such as this. Takeru sighed, coughed a few times, and shut his eyes. The brightness of the sun having thus faded, his headache abated slightly. "There was much to do," he defended, aware that his voice sounded a bit hoarser, his sinuses more congested than before.

"I'm sure there was," Iori replied, "and we greatly appreciate your help. But running yourself ragged doesn't help the sick." He frowned. "Sometimes it isn't possible to save everyone, Takeru."

Takeru sniffled, which was a loud, unpleasant noise, and sighed. "I know," he replied, and then coughed a few times. "I know."

Iori sighed, feeling as though there was likely more to the story than was being admitted. "How much of that potion you made should I give you?" he asked.

The would-be-healer sighed and sniffled again. "I suppose a half-glass would do it," he replied after a moment.

"If you were one of your patients, what exactly would you recommend?" Iori questioned. Without waiting for an answer, he went on, "You would recommend rest. Therefore, I'm recommending rest. Stay in bed the rest of today, and get some sleep."

As he spoke, he crossed the room and located a small glass beaker, containing a liquid which, depending upon how one looked at it and the time of day in which it was looked at, could be either blue, green, red, pink, purple, or any combination of such. To Iori, midmorning on a spring day, in this brightly lit room, it looked purple, but when he held it up to pour it into the glass nearby, it looked more pink.

"There's still things to do," Takeru protested, interrupting himself with a cough, after which he sniffled loudly. "The potion supply is almost empty…I've got to gather more of those roots…."

"I can handle that," Iori replied. "You've left a very clear recipe for the healing potion. I'm sure I can follow it." Having crossed the room once more, he held up the glass, half-filled with bright blue liquid. "Drink."

Takeru opened his eyes, squinting in the sunlight at the glass. He pushed himself to a sitting position and took the cup in his own hands. It looked supremely unappetizing – a dark green color that resembled wet moss. He considered holding his nose, but, as he couldn't smell anything anyway, decided against it and simply downed it all in one quick gulp.

It tasted awful, even with his nose plugged as it was, and Takeru made a face when it was over, twisting into an expression of extreme aversion. "That was the most disgusting thing," he declared solemnly. "I hope it works."

"If it doesn't, you have only yourself to blame," Iori replied. "It'll work. It's worked for everyone else, so far."

"Ugh," Takeru replied, and groaned, falling back into the pillows. "How is it that I got sick so quickly? You've been here the whole time and you haven't even coughed. It's not fair."

"Because I have been getting enough rest and not working myself to the bone," Iori answered sensibly. "Get some rest."

This last command was unnecessary, as Takeru was already halfway into dreamland by the time Iori had replaced the glass on the tray near the door. Ingredients to hasten sleep had been mixed into the recipe, and these, it seemed, were doing their job quite well.

Iori was about to open the door and leave the room when a movement near the window caught his eye. A Piyomon was sitting upon the sill, tapping lightly on the glass. Frowning thoughtfully, Iori crossed the room and let it in, along with a cool draft of wind.

"Sorry," the Piyomon said in a whisper, aware of the sleeping one in the bed. "I've got a message." He held up a roll of parchment in one wing.

"For me?" Iori wondered in an equally quiet voice, "or him?" He gestured toward Takeru with one hand.

"Either, actually," the messenger digimon replied. "It's from the Princess, and she said that whoever I saw first could have it." He shrugged. "I can wait for a response if you'd like."

Iori had only been half paying attention to these last words, as he was reading the message. When he'd finished, he glanced toward Takeru and sighed. "He's not going to be happy I made him sleep."

***

"I told you, I feel fine, Mimi," Hikari repeated for what, she suspected, was the hundredth time that day – and it was only mid-afternoon. She had expected a bit of overprotective tendencies upon her return, mostly from her brother, but she was nonetheless beginning to find Mimi's constant concern a bit tiring.

"If you feel the slightest bit off…," Mimi went on, but now Sora interrupted her to finish the sentence.

"I'm sure she'll let you know, Mimi. Both of us will. Tell Taichi there is nothing to worry about. She's certainly not going to tire herself looking through books."

"All right, all right," Mimi conceded, throwing up both hands in a gesture of surrender. "I'm only making sure."

"If anything happens, one of us will scream at the top of our lungs," Sora promised. "It will send dozens of guards running for this library, and dozens more running to find the King. I promise that neither of you will be uninformed."

Hikari suppressed a giggle at the thought, but Mimi was not quite so amused. "Fine, fine," she said. "I'll tell him. He'll only send me back in a half-hour or less to check on you, but I'll tell him." With that, she was gone, leaving the library in silence, at least until Hikari let the giggle escape.

"It's not that I don't understand," Sora explained, settling down once more into an overstuffed, comfortable armchair in the corner of the room, near a large, bright window overflowing light. "He's nervous and concerned. I understand that. However, I hardly think it's necessary for him to check on our well-being every ten minutes."

"Has he been like that the whole time?" Hikari wondered.

Sora sighed, leaning back into the chair. Several months of pregnancy had made her a bit larger than before, and a bit more tired, though she still had some time to go. "I expect he'll get worse before it's over," she admitted. "He's also become a bit more…protective…since you've come back. Again, understandable, yet…infuriating."

There was a pile of history books on the table between them, and another pile on the floor as well. Unwilling to be inactive, Sora and Hikari had decided to busy themselves in the library, searching for answers to several of their current pressing questions. Mimi had originally planned to help them, as Yamato's return had suggested a lessening if not end to her own official duties, but she had been recruited for other tasks instead and had not been able to assist as much as she would have liked.

Hikari nodded. "That pretty much describes my brother," she admitted. "Understandably infuriating."

"Hmm," Sora agreed, nodding. "I suppose it's part of the ups and downs of married life." She looked sideway toward Hikari as she spoke, casting a mild hint in her direction.

"I suppose," Hikari replied, not really taking the bait, but turning a page in the book she was holding.

Taichi, Sora, Mimi, Yamato, Jyou, and, it seemed, nearly everyone in the palace was quite aware now, if they hadn't been before, of the real reason Hikari had gone to the Northern Kingdom. In the time she'd been gone, much of the gossip had been about exactly who she was going to be engaged to, and whether she would move to the North to be with her new husband. It was considered certain that she would be engaged to one of the Northern Lords, and this had caused quite a bit of stir, as very few of the nobles of Yagami knew any of the nobles of the Northern Kingdom. Some had wondered if she would return home at all, or simply settle into life in the North.

Hikari, however, had returned from the North and given neither hint nor indication about any marriage plans or any of what had happened while she was gone. Daisuke, Ken, and Miyako, who had been with her and undoubtedly knew the truth, had similarly remained silent. Very few of the nobles dared ask Hikari directly, and those who could only danced quietly around the subject, dropping hints and suggestions, hoping that she might open up.

She had said nothing, however, not even to her brother, who had said nothing to Hikari but confessed to Sora his complete confusion. In a very short time, the gossip in the palace had grown even louder, aided in part by the arrival of spring, which brought with it the young Lords and Ladies who had gone to their homes for the winter and now returned.

The rumors were wide and varied. Some suspected that Hikari had refused any and all marriage prospects, to the great dismay of the Northern King, who had sent her home in disgust, foregoing the old treaty. Others theorized that she had been forced into marriage with someone she did not wish to marry, and so wished to avoid thinking about or discussing the future. There was also a rumor that she had been engaged to Takeru, who had stayed behind for some mysterious reason – perhaps to further learn the customs of the North.

Few of the rumors came anywhere near to the truth, though there were a few who quietly suspected it. Sora and Taichi had both noted her connection to Daisuke quite some time ago, and they also now observed that her abduction had been reported to Daisuke first, and no other. Still, both chose to say nothing directly, though they were not opposed to dropping many hints, none of which Hikari responded to.

Some time passed in the sunlit library, with many pages being turned and few questions being answered, when the door creaked open and Koushiro entered with another armful of books. Seeing his difficulty with shutting the door behind him, Hikari got up and did so while the wizard slowly made his way across the room and set the books upon the floor.

"I don't know if these will be of any use," he reported, "but they're old and historical, and I think we'll need to go back very far indeed if we're going to have any hope of finding any answers." He sighed and sat down in a nearby unoccupied armchair, tired from his exertions.

"We certainly have enough to keep us busy for quite a while," Sora observed, gesturing toward the piles of books that surrounded them.

The wizard nodded in agreement, and took from his pocket the small red crystal that was the object of their studies. He set it atop the most recent pile of books. "Agreed," he said.

Hikari had made her way back across the room after closing the door, but had not yet sat down again. Now she stepped forward and picked up the jewel in her hands. It was set in a gold setting that seemed particularly ancient, and a long leather cord was strung through it that would allow it to be worn as a necklace. For a long moment, she studied it, and both Koushiro and Sora watched her.

"It doesn't look like much, does it?" Sora said, conversationally. "Almost hard to believe that little thing could do so much."

Hikari nodded. "I'm glad it did, though," she said quietly, thinking of how Takeru had used it. She looked toward Koushiro. "Do you mind if I take this for a bit?"

The wizard shook his head. "It isn't really mine," he replied with a light shrug. "I don't think looking at it any longer is going to help me much."

"Do you think you can learn something from it?" Sora asked.

Hikari shook her head. "Nothing that Koushiro doesn't already know, I'm sure," she replied modestly, sitting down once more. "I just want to look at it for a while."

"Feel free," Koushiro replied, taking the topmost book from the nearest pile. He sat back in the armchair, legs folded beneath him, and opened the volume. Confronted with pages of carefully transcribed notes and ancient, smudged writings, he sighed.

"It's quite daunting," Sora said, agreeing with his sigh. "I wish we had someone who was an actual historian who might be able to decipher this all into words I can understand."

"As do I," the wizard answered, squinting at the page before him. "I have only ever known one person who was ever very interested in deciphering historical texts, and he is no longer around. If he was, our task would be much simpler, I am sure."

"Who was he?" Hikari wondered, curious.

Koushiro looked up from his book with a strange expression on his face. "Your father, princess," he replied.

***

The night was cool and calm, a gentle breeze occasionally blowing through the streets of the town. As it was quite late in the evening, most of the windows of the shops, taverns, inns, and houses were dark and silent, their occupants having gone to bed long before.

A single building however, had its windows lit, though only dimly, with the light of candles and fire. This was the shop of a man with many talents. He was a wizard, a collector of many things, an inventor, and a mechanic who tinkered with many gadgets and gizmos. He was also, to supplement his income, a slave trader.

There was a brief flash of light which momentarily brightened the dark, narrow street, but didn't waken anyone. A single figure, dressed in a long, warm cloak, appeared when the flash had died. For a brief moment, it stood in the center of the street, looking around, and then it seemed to see the shop with the lit window and made its way toward it. Apparently noting the sign hanging overhead, the figure stepped up to the door and tapped lightly upon the wood.

A cold wind, stronger than the last, blew through the streets, and the sign creaked loudly in the silence as it swung upon its perch. After a long moment, the door squeaked open, barely wide enough that a thin, long face with beady eyes could be seen peering through the gap.

"What is it?" questioned the man, his voice squeaking almost as much as the sign which swung overhead. "It's the middle of the night."

"I won't be very long," the figure replied, and the shopkeeper was somewhat astonished to find that it was a female voice that spoke. "I only need to ask you a question, and then I'll be on my way."

"A question?" the man echoed. There was another odd sound, and then his eyes peered out into the night through two round pieces of glass. They made his eyes look large and bug-like as they blinked in her direction. He pulled the door open further. "Get in," he said, and she stepped inside.

The shop was cluttered with all manner of gadgets and strange objects. Shelves filled with the things lined the walls, with only a small space left for a fireplace. A single lantern rested upon the edge of a small desk, cluttered with papers. A Gazimon was sleeping upon the desk, beside the lantern. As the visitor entered the shop, it opened one eye, but then shut it again, apparently deeming that she was not enough of a concern to wake himself.

"You are being followed," the shopkeeper said before the woman had completely taken stock of her surroundings. "You bring danger here."

"I told you, I'll only be a moment," she said, lowering the hood of her cloak. "I need you to tell me where to find my father."

"If you haven't been able to find him with that thing," the man replied, pointing toward the small red jewel she wore around her neck, "then perhaps he doesn't want to be found."

"I don't have a choice," she answered. "Tell me where to find him."

"You'll be killed before you can make it," he stated bluntly. "You've already brought danger to my doorstep." It appeared he was nervous about her presence, very nervous, for his eyes darted around the space. He hurried over to the lantern and blew it out quickly, much to the displeasure of the Gazimon.

"Tell me where he is, and I'll leave," the woman replied. "I'll be gone before they get here; you'll have nothing to worry about."

The shopkeeper was paying little attention to her now, but was instead rummaging about the shop, seeking for something. He was mumbling under his breath in some esoteric language, perhaps casting a spell.

After a moment, he found a short length of chain upon one of the shelves, and he took it down. "I can't tell you where he is," he said, "because it's not allowed to speak of it. I can take you to him, but not until morning, and only if you wear these."

She took a step backward. "You want me to wear chains?"

"They're magic," he said, which should not have been surprising given the strange contraption he wore on his head. "They'll hide your magic from the ones that follow you, thus ensuring your safety – and mine."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"You don't," he replied bluntly. Some noise outside that was likely only caused by the wind made him jump. "Your father is in a camp a half-day's journey from here. It's a camp of slave-traders. If you walk into it unarmed, unprotected, the traders will take you and have you sold before you can blink."

"I'm capable of protecting myself," the woman replied, and as she spoke, the head of a feline digimon appeared from beneath her cloak, blue eyes glinting in the dim light. Her partner digimon noted the presence of the Gazimon and narrowed her eyes, for she had never much liked that type of digimon.

The trader laughed, a short, squeaky bark of a noise. "Famous last words," he said. "Agree to my terms or I won't take you, and you won't find him. The camp is well hidden from magic, and that, " he pointed once more at the amulet, "won't help you."

She glanced down at the digimon, who frowned as she looked upward toward her partner, then shrugged. With a sigh, she held out both her arms to the shopkeeper. "All right," she said.

The man did not bother to hide his satisfaction as he securely fastened the heavy metal shackles over her wrists. His smile glinted strangely in the firelight.


	25. Meeting

**The Ancient Curse  
**

Part Twenty-Five: **Meeting**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie: **_Digimon_, all characters, etc, does not belong to me. Plot, however, does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

***

Hikari awoke in mid-morning to find that the sky was moving. Beneath her, the wheels of a small wooden cart squeaked steadily as they made their way over the dirt road. Above her, blue sky and white fluffy clouds passed over at a slow but steady pace.

She sat up, feeling disoriented. The last thing she remembered was falling to sleep in a small room in the back of the shop. There hadn't even been a bed to sleep on, only a pile of straw and a few blankets, but she'd been tired enough that she didn't care, and had fallen to sleep almost immediately. Apparently the shopkeeper had not wanted to wait for her to awaken, but had carried her to the cart and started off on their journey.

The chains which he claimed would hide her from magic were still around her wrists, and she saw now that they were also connected to a metal loop driven into the side of the cart. There were several other metal loops placed at intervals throughout the vehicle, some of which had empty chains dangling from them. This was a cart, she realized, which had been used often to transport slaves.

A shiver ran down her spine – a bit of fear. A short distance away, she could see that the shopkeeper was driving the cart munching on a loaf of bread as they traveled. "Is this necessary?" Hikari called toward him, rattling the chains as she spoke. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Just a precaution," he replied, mouth half-full. "Can't be too careful!"

"I'm sure," Tailmon muttered skeptically, and Hikari noted that her partner was not looking particularly pleased about the situation. It hadn't been easy to convince her to come along on this journey, and Tailmon was not very happy about the way things had turned out so far.

"It's too late to turn back now," Hikari told her, ignoring for the moment the shiver of fear that she had felt before. "I've already made a decision, and I can't go back."

***

Though she was still tired, Miyako found that it was quite difficult to continue sleeping when there was sunlight shining directly into her eyes from the grate overhead. After trying several times to return to sleep, she was forced to admit defeat, and sat up, yawning.

It was, at least, not very cold in the small room without windows or doors. Though she vaguely remembered having worn a cloak at some point in the recent past, it was no longer with her. The sleeves of her dress were ripped, and the skirt itself was also torn and tattered, covered with the dust of exploding brick walls, as was much of her skin.

She peered out past the invisible barrier, and saw that Ken was still asleep. He did not appear to have been injured in any way, though she would not have been surprised to find that he had a few small cuts (or even large ones) from his recent swordfight in the forest. He had, at least, been given a small, thin blanket, and he had pulled it over him while he slept.

Still, there was a bit of a chill, as there always is in the early morning, even in the warmth of spring. Miyako stretched one arm out before her, palm up, and shut her eyes. She focused her mind, gathering her energies, and manipulated the magic in such a way as to form a spark.

Nothing happened.

Miyako opened her eyes, frowning at the space above her hand. She curved her fingers in slightly, and then after a moment, twitched her thumb, forefinger, and the smallest finger inward in a well practiced movement designed to cause the magic to spark and form a flame.

Again, nothing happened.

Seeing clearly, Miyako could tell that the magic was going in the direction she wanted it to, but nothing was happening. _Am I weaker than I thought? _she wondered, and tried again. Again, there was no response.

She shook her head as though to clear it, and tamped down upon the faint sense of panic she could feel rising within her. Now she turned her hand so that the palm was facing outward, and willed the energy of her aura outward, towards her fingers, as was the way to form a shield.

This time, the magic didn't even attempt to flow in the correct way. It seemed, in fact, as though it wasn't responding to her directions at all.

_I must be doing something wrong, _Miyako rationalized, and thought back, remembering the basic beginnings of magic that she had learned some time ago. She calmed herself as best she was able, and focused upon steadying her breathing, relaxing. She could still see the magic, therefore it had not left her entirely.

She could see her own aura now, pulsing in and out with the beats of heart and the rhythm of her breathing. It was mostly clear, but with light threads of color floating in its mist. A bit of fear, a bit of worry, a bit of determination. Clearing her mind as best she could, Miyako shut her eyes and waited for her strength to return.

***

Around midday, the cart pulled to a stop, and Hikari peered over the edge of it to note a small cluster of tents in the middle of a wide, otherwise empty field. A few men were walking about, traveling between the tents. At one edge of the camp, a cluster of Monochromon munched upon the grass, of which there was plenty. At another end, a large tent stood.

As she watched, Hikari's eyes caught sight of a man, dressed in a long, dark brown cloak, as he crossed the camp. In one hand he held a leather cord, the opposite end of which appeared to be attached to a young man, who followed after him carrying a set of heavy bags.

"They're slave traders," Tailmon noted with a frown. She glanced up toward her partner. "It might be wise to be careful."

Hikari nodded in agreement. "You're right," she said, and sighed. "I'd forgotten about how much I don't like slave traders."

"I don't see why not," the shopkeeper said, interrupting her thoughts as he climbed down from his perch at the front of the cart. "We're all quite nice people, once you get to know us."

"I'm sure you are," Hikari replied with a bit of skepticism, deciding it might be best not to argue the point. She looked toward Tailmon, who shrugged absently.

A bright light surrounded her partner, and then she was Tailmon no longer, but an innocuous, harmless-looking Plotmon. The shopkeeper's Gazimon apparently found this amusing, and Plotmon glared in his direction, though the rabbit-like digimon pretended to take no notice.

"Not a bad idea," the shopkeeper noted approvingly. He was at work, disconnecting the chains from the edge of the cart. "If you're smart, you'll keep close to me, and be quiet," he advised, taking the end of them in his hand. "If they find out who you are…."

"I know," Hikari replied, frowning. "Are you sure my father is here?"

"If he's not, I haven't any idea where he is," the shopkeeper replied. He tugged on the end of the chains, indicating his desire to start moving. Somewhat reluctantly, Hikari climbed down from the cart and followed him, trying to observe the goings-on of the camp while at the same time attempting to be invisible. Plotmon followed along after her, frowning intently at the Gazimon, who walked beside the trader, occasionally glancing backward with a smug expression.

They stopped when the sound of another man's voice calling across the open space caught the attention of the shopkeeper. He called a greeting back, apparently acquainted with the man, and then changed direction abruptly, going to meet him. Hikari half-stumbled at the turn, unprepared for it, and had to hurry to catch up before she was dragged along the ground.

"Long time no see!" the other man was saying to the shopkeeper, patting him on the back in greeting. "It's been a while!"

"It has, it has," the shopkeeper replied, shaking hands with the trader. "I heard you made a fortune last year on that young one you got from Chu. Congratulations."

"It wasn't bad," the trader replied modestly. "Enough to buy four sturdy ones this year, and they'll probably make me more. Business is good. But what's this? This one doesn't look half-bad."

He stepped forward, looking more closely toward Hikari, who instinctively took a step backward, though she couldn't get far. She noted the frown the shopkeeper cast in her direction – apparently, in his eagerness to speak with an old friend, he'd forgotten about her. Though her second desire was to glare directly toward the trader with an expression of dislike, Hikari reflected that this might not be typical behavior for a slave.

Truthfully, she had never _really_ seen a slave, nor studied their behaviors. Certainly Daisuke had been bound by the spell of one, but it was hardly his true nature, and she had taken pains to actively discourage anything that might be slave-like in his behavior. Everyone else around him had done the same, and that had done much to encourage him.

Now, she wondered if perhaps she might have considered further before walking into a camp of traders while masquerading as a slave, being as she knew almost nothing about what was acceptable behavior. She thought now that any sort of disobedience or willful desires might be frowned upon, and so she forced herself not to move any further away as the trader stepped closer. She kept her eyes downcast, partly because she did not wish to look at his face, and partly because this seemed to be the right thing to do. She thought she remembered that Daisuke had done something similar.

The trader took hold of her chin in one hand and lifted her face upward, studying her with the eye of one who was examining merchandise. Hikari found that it took most of her self control not to glare at the man with an expression of disgust or to pull back from his touch. At her feet, she could feel Plotmon tensing with a bit of protective fury.

"Nice, nice," the trader said, turning her head in one direction and then the other. "She's a fine one. Did you pay a fortune for her, eh?"

"A few thousand," the shopkeeper said mildly, lying easily. "I want to keep her here a few days while I collect some others. I've already got a buyer lined up."

"A lucky man," the other replied appreciatively, and finally let go of Hikari, who silently breathed an unnoticed sigh of relief. "Wish I had one that nice."

"Can't have them all," the shopkeeper replied with a light shrug. "Well, been good talking to you. I've got to get going."

"Right, right," the trader said, and clasped hands with the shopkeeper once more. "Hope to see you again soon."

When the trader had passed them by, the shopkeeper tugged upon the chains once more and resumed his walk across the grounds of the camp. "You're not half bad at pretending," he noted appreciatively in a quiet voice. "I suppose that might come from having a slave of your own, right?" He grinned as he spoke.

Hikari said nothing in response to this, but frowned in his direction steadily. The shopkeeper pretended not to notice, but continued their walk, finally halting in front of the largest tent.

It was easily as large as any tent Hikari had ever seen, and indeed as large as some buildings. Two armed guards stood at the entrance, and Hikari wondered absently if they were there to discourage theft or escape or both. They passed through the entrance flap without any sign of interest from the guards.

Inside, the tent was dim, with a few scattered lanterns providing light. Hikari was quite surprised (though she reflected immediately that she should not have been) to note that the inside of the tent was filled with metal cages, ranging in size from rather small to quite large. Each one held anywhere from one to a dozen slaves.

She had never seen anything like it, never even conceived of anything similar, and found herself staring at the space even as the shopkeeper led her a short distance into the tent to speak with what appeared to be a clerk. Hikari paid little attention to the words being said, but stared at the rows of cages with a bit of wide-eyed fear.

Most of the slaves appeared to be unharmed. Some were sleeping upon blankets on the ground, and others upon small cots with thin blankets thrown over them for warmth. Some were dressed in decent, well made, though plain clothing, and others wore what appeared to be only rags. She saw a few young men who wore little more than cloths tied around their waists and blankets thrown over their shoulders. They ranged in age, too, from young children to old men, though most appeared to be young adults.

Hikari was aware of a sharp tug on her wrists, and looked up to see that a tall, muscular man was pulling upon the chains that bound her. The shopkeeper was already making his way for the exit, apparently unconcerned with what might happen to her now. Though her first instinct was to call after him and demand an explanation, Hikari silenced herself. She had no choice but to follow the tall man down the row of cages, and as she did so she felt the eyes of the slaves watching her.

Near the opposite end of the tent, the man stopped near a small, empty cage, obviously designed to hold only one person. He reached out, and, with a key that dangled from a rather large ring upon his waist, unlocked the door. It swung open with a loud creak. Hikari felt the man's strong grip upon the back of her neck, and he pushed her forward through the gap and into the cage.

She stumbled through the opening and felt her legs give out beneath her and she sank to her knees at the same time that the door behind her closed with a loud clang. She turned back in time to see the large man head back the way he had come, keys jingling on his belt.

***

It was early morning when the carriage pulled up in the space where so many carriages often halted to release their passengers. Yawning widely, for it had been difficult to sleep in the carriage, Daisuke climbed down from the vehicle and held open the door for his sister.

"You wouldn't be so tired if you'd waited until morning to leave," she scolded him, the sound of her voice waking him from his half-awake state. "I don't see what the hurry is, anyway. Why did we have to travel at night?"

"Because it's safer," Daisuke replied, and then interrupted himself with a yawn before he could add anything further to this statement. He had, at several times over the last few days, considered leaving his sister behind, only to be silently reminded of Hikari's vision of her death as it appeared in his mind.

"Safer, safer, safer," Jun grumbled, shutting the door behind her. "You were never so concerned about safety before. What's changed?"

"Call me crazy," he answered sleepily, "if I don't want to see you killed." He yawned again. "I'm going to find a bed and take a nice long nap."

Jun looked as though she might be thinking of some not-so-pleasant comment to this statement as well, but before she could do so, she caught sight of a familiar person nearby. "Mimi!" she called cheerfully, for she had not seen her in quite some time.

"Jun!" Mimi called, and hurried over. Daisuke yawned once more, and immediately started for his bedroom. A conversation with Mimi was not high on his list of ways to spend the morning, especially considering how tired he was.

"Thank goodness you've finally come," Mimi was saying before she'd even gotten as far as Jun. "This whole place is a mess. No one has any idea where Hikari's gone, and I was beginning to worry something might have happened to you as well."

Daisuke paused, mid-step, and turned back toward Mimi. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"With all this talk about danger," Mimi answered, "I was told you were to arrive a few days ago, and when you didn't…."

"Not that," he said dismissively. "What did you say about Hikari?"

"She isn't here," Mimi replied.

"What do you mean she isn't here?" Daisuke questioned, taking a step forward. Jun had a confused expression on her face.

"Didn't she make it back here?" she asked.

Mimi nodded. "She _was _here," she replied. "She was here for several days, doing research with Sora. Yesterday, however, we woke up to find that she was gone. It seems that she took that teleporting amulet that Takeru used and vanished somewhere."

"Vanished _where_?" Daisuke demanded.

Mimi shrugged. "No idea. We were hoping you'd have some idea where she'd gone."

"Vanished," he echoed dumbly, and shook his head. "She was supposed to come back here, where she'd be safe. She was…she _vanished_?"

"Are you all right?" Jun questioned, for Daisuke was mumbling to himself incoherently, and looking a bit paler than before. "Maybe you should get some sleep."

"Sleep," he mumbled, and took a few steps away from them. "Sleep. This is a dream."

Mimi and Jun both watched as he made his way down the hall, and then Jun looked over her shoulder in time to see the boy, Shijo, appear, having apparently tended to the Monochromon. "Go after him," she said to him, gesturing toward her brother, "and see that he doesn't fall down in the middle of the hallway and hit his head."

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you," Mimi said then when both had vanished around the corner and she and Jun were alone in the entrance hall. "It concerns your brother and the princess."

Jun frowned in confusion. "What's that?" she wondered.

"Have you heard that she's engaged?" Mimi asked.

Jun blinked several times. "I had not!" she replied in astonishment. "To whom?"

"That's the mystery," Mimi answered. "No one knows."

***

The small cage was only large enough to lie down in if Hikari curled herself up and slept upon her side. Stretched out fully, it was too small. It had taken her some time to find a way to sleep comfortably, and when she awoke, she had the feeling that she had not had nearly enough sleep. She felt stiff all over, and cold and dirty.

There was no way of knowing what time it was, as there was no light from outside within the large tent. The slaves apparently were unconcerned with time, for they made the same amount of noise at all times. At any given period, half of them were awake and half were asleep. Some of them talked quietly amongst themselves, some shouted loudly (though these, Hikari noted, had been silenced quickly), and some remained quiet. No matter what time of day or night it was, a percentage of them was always making _some_ noise.

She had been given food shortly after her arrival, a bowl of some sort of tasteless gruel and bit of stale bread. A bucket of water was carried down the line of cages a short time after, and each was allowed a small gulp from a metal ladle that spooned out some of the liquid. Some time after that, Hikari had fallen to sleep, since there was nothing else to do, and she _was_ a bit tired.

When she awoke, she saw that nothing had changed. The level of light within the tent was the same as it had been when she had arrived, as was the level of sound. She sighed and leaned back against the bars of the cage, wondering if she had made a big mistake coming here.

After some time had passed, she let her eyes fall shut again, and perhaps drifted to sleep for a few minutes, even though she had not laid down. She was awakened once more by the sound of a vaguely familiar voice a short distance away.

"Why did you come here?"

Hikari opened her eyes sharply and saw that a tall figure was standing a short distance beyond the bars of the cage. He was tall, covered entirely in a black cloak, so that he appeared to be only a shadow if one did not look closely enough. For a moment, a bit of fear gripped her, and then she pushed this aside and crawled forward.

"Father?" she asked. "Is that you?"

"Why did you come here?" he asked again. "You want to be a slave?" He waved an arm, gesturing toward the tent as a whole.

"No," Hikari answered immediately, shaking her head. "Please, Father, I need your help."

He was quiet for some time. "I can't help you," he replied then. "I am supposed to be dead, and dead men cannot help the living."

"Please, Father. You might be the only one who can answer my questions," she said quickly, before he could turn away and vanish into the shadows of the tent. "I need to know who might have cast an ancient curse on Motomiya."

There was silence for a long moment, but he did not turn to leave. Hikari had no other choice but to wait, and listen to the rapid pounding of her heartbeat in her own ears. "Why?" he finally questioned.

"Because I'm going to marry him," Hikari said, speaking quickly, "and you said you approved, didn't you? If I don't find out who cast the curse, and stop it, he'll die." She leaned forward and wrapped both hands around the bars of the cage as she spoke.

"Die?" the shadow echoed in a strange tone of voice, as though he found this to be an exaggeration.

"They plan to kill me, to kill his sister, to kill everyone of any importance to him," she went on, tightening her grip upon the bars. "I'm sure once they've done that, they'll kill him. I need to know who they are. I need to find some way to stop it."

He did not answer for a long moment. Distantly, the conversations and cries of the slaves continued, a quiet background hum that never ceased. Someone in the cage nearest to Hikari was sleeping, and his or her snores rumbled steadily through the crowded space like a roll of thunder before a storm.

"Please," Hikari said then. "Father…."

If he could not help her, if he would not or could not give her any information, then she had come so far, risked so much, for nothing. She waited in the silence. Each second that passed seemed as though it was an hour. Tired, for she had not slept so well as she would have liked, Hikari leaned her head forward to rest on the bars of the cage, and let her eyes fall shut.

"Otonashi," he replied quietly. "Otonashi."

She opened her eyes, lifted her head. The name sounded familiar to her, but she could not say why.

"It was many years ago," he said, "but he hated Motomiya, and would have done anything…."

***

My latest calculations estimate that this story will end at 35 chapters. No guarantees. Again, apologies for my lack of brevity and thanks for reading!


	26. A Gift From The North

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Twenty-Six:** A Gift From The North**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, characters, etc, is not mine. Plot, however, is mine all mine. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy

***

Miyako had vanished. Ken had awoken to find the sun streaming in, bright and full, and himself alone in the windowless room. He did not know when she had vanished, nor where she had gone, but she was no longer in the room.

He had spent a short amount of time mildly panicking over this development, but had stopped himself shortly because it wasn't wise. If something had happened to her, he could not help her. If she had been taken, he had no way of going after her.

They had been in this room for several days now, though they had both lost track of the time. Miyako had not regained her magical strength, much to their surprise and dismay. They had seen no people and heard no voices. She had attempted shouting, but it had done no good; no one had come. Briefly, the swordsmen had appeared, but only long enough to set down food and water and then vanish again, and they seemed, as always, not in the mood for conversation.

Not long after he awakened, Ken became aware of a mild tingling sensation somewhere along his spine, and then two of the swordsmen appeared in the center of the room.

Miyako was between them. She was dressed no longer in the clothes she had been wearing, but in a thin dress that appeared to be little more than a long tunic. It came only as far down as her knees, and seemed to be made of various rags sewn together, each of them a shade of white. She stood for a moment after her escorts had vanished, and then fell to her knees on the platform.

"Miyako," Ken said, and she looked at him for a brief moment, appearing exhausted, before she fell sideways onto the platform and shut her eyes. "Miyako!" he called.

She was paler than he recalled, and a bit thinner, too, which was not surprising as neither of them had eaten much in the last few days. He had never seen her legs before, but they looked like skinny twigs, and her hair was hanging limply around her face, half obscuring her eyes.

"Ken," she mumbled quietly, and sat up, slowly. "They're not real."

"They who?" he questioned automatically, not understanding. "What's happened to you?"

She crawled forward to the edge of the platform and then forward across the stone floor, toward the edge of the barrier between them. It was a slow journey, and she spoke slowly as she made it. "I'm all right," she said, "for now. They're not real. You should tell him that."

"Who isn't real?" Ken asked, by now quite concerned.

"The swordsmen," she said, "aren't real." She had reached the edge of her space by now, and she placed one hand upon the invisible wall that separated them. "They're only creations of magic."

"Creations of magic?" he echoed, confused.

Miyako nodded, and now she leaned against the barrier, using it to hold herself upright. "You should tell Daisuke…not to feel bad about killing them…because they aren't real."

Ken didn't really know what to say to this. He couldn't tell Daisuke anything, since Daisuke was nowhere near to them, and he had no way of getting a message to him.

"He's not coming," Miyako said then, and let her eyes fall shut.

"What do you mean?"

"He's not coming. He doesn't know we're here…and even if he did, he wouldn't come." She opened one eye and looked at him. "He won't leave Hikari, you know." She shut her eye again, took a slow, deep breath. "He loves her."

"I know," Ken said, sighing.

"So he won't…come after us," Miyako went on, sounding tired.

"That's all right," he said. "Once you've got your strength back, we can get out of here."

Even before he'd finished speaking, however, Miyako was shaking her head. "My magic is gone," she said, opening her eyes once more. "I can't even make a spark. It's gone."

"It's not _gone_," Ken disagreed. "It's only that you're tired. You haven't eaten enough, haven't rested enough. Eventually, it'll come back."

She was still shaking her head. "It's not coming back," she said, sitting up once more. She turned to face him, and placed one hand on the barrier. "I don't think I'm going to leave here."

"What are you talking about?" Ken demanded, moving closer. "Of course you are!"

***

"Apparently," Takeru was saying as he tied his shoelaces, "I can make a decent healing potion."

"All the same," Iori disagreed, "don't you suppose you ought to rest a bit more?"

"Why?" Takeru asked, getting to his feet. He stretched both his arms out, and flexed his muscles. "I feel fine. Anyway, it's only a short walk, and I'm sure I'm not going to exhaust myself with a short walk. If I feel tired, I'll come back in and rest."

Iori sighed, but gave up trying to argue, and shrugged instead. "All right then," he conceded, "but don't say I didn't warn you."

"Sure you don't want to come?" Takeru called after him, but Iori didn't reply, so he guessed the answer was negative. Shrugging, he pulled on a cloak, since the weather was still cool, and headed for the door. Patamon, still sleeping on the bed, rolled over onto his side and mumbled quietly to himself.

Most of Hida appeared to have recovered from the illness that Takeru had come to treat. He himself had been the last victim, and as he now felt fine, Takeru decided that it was a sign that there was nothing further to worry about.

While he had been sick, a letter had been delivered from the palace, written by Hikari, informing him that she was also quite recovered from the spell that had weakened her. Though she didn't mention exactly _how_ this feat had been accomplished, Takeru and Iori had been cheered by the news. These two good things happening at once had put him in a very good mood.

The midmorning air was crisp and clear, with only a few puffy clouds in the sky. Though it was still cold, the weather was turning a bit warmer by the standards of Hida, and Takeru found that he did not need to pull the hood of his cloak over his head.

There was a carriage on the road from the north, he saw. It was heading steadily southward, making its way toward Hida, or so it would appear. Takeru could see it coming from some distance away, and watched its approach, wondering absently who it was and why they were coming this way. Traders from the North did not usually come within carriages, but with carts or wagons loaded with goods. Travelers might sometimes take the road through Hida, but there weren't many travelers.

The carriage was driven by a man in a dark cloak, pulled by a solitary Monochromon that lumbered along at a slow but steady speed. Takeru watched the vehicle for some time until it finally pulled up a short distance from the large manor house.

The driver climbed down and opened the door, and another man, similarly dressed in a dark cloak, climbed down from the carriage. Behind him climbed another figure, this one dressed in a dark brown cloak. Takeru noted that something seemed to connect the two figures that had been riding within the carriage, though he did not get a clear view of it.

The driver stepped forward, leading the way toward the house, and, seeing Takeru, paused and bowed in greetings. Takeru bowed back. "Welcome to Hida," he said pleasantly, pushing aside the frown on his face.

"We seek an audience with his Lordship," the driver stated simply, and held out a small scroll of paper. Frowning in confusion, Takeru took the paper and unrolled it. Upon the words were a number of official looking seals and a bunch of formal words wishing goodwill and friendship to the Lord of Hida. The entire thing was signed by someone named Kitano.

Takeru didn't recognize the name, but figured that the name of a Northern Lord was not one he'd easily recognize. Since everything looked in order, he shrugged and rolled the paper once more, handing it back.

"He's inside," he said, nodding toward the door. "I'll take you to him."

***

"Kitano?" Iori asked, looking up from the paper. He glanced briefly toward Takeru, who noticed that, interestingly enough, the name seemed to have some significance for him.

"Our Lord sends his greetings," said the man who had driven the carriage. "He also sends a gift."

"A gift?" Iori echoed, once more glancing toward Takeru, who was frowning. "What's the occasion?"

"I believe it is to congratulate you, sir," the man replied, "upon your successful acquisition of this land."

Takeru raised his eyebrows. "That was more than two years ago," he pointed out.

The visitor appeared undisturbed. "News travels slowly," he said with a light shrug. He nodded toward his companion, who stepped forward. Takeru could see more easily now that it was a length of chain that connected the second man with the third of their group. "A gift for your Lordship."

The second man gently shoved forward the third person in the party, who now stumbled a few steps forward and sank down to the ground. Takeru once more looked toward Iori, this time with an expression of alarm.

"I have no need for a slave," Iori said immediately. "We don't keep them here. I appreciate the thought, but…."

"My Lord has asked me to tell you to reconsider," the driver stated calmly. "In our land, it is not wise to refuse a gift."

Iori once more looked toward Takeru, who shrugged. "All right," he conceded. "Tell him I thank him for the gift, but if he decides to again feel so generous he should not send me a slave."

"I shall pass on the information, sir," answered the visitor. The second man held out one hand, which held the end of the chain which bound the "gift." Takeru, who was standing nearest, took the end of it. "Thank you for your time."

With that, the two men left, before Iori could consider offering them further hospitality. He looked once more at the scroll in his hand, frowning in thought. "Kitano…," he mumbled.

Takeru sighed, then sank down to his knees in front of the one who was before him now. He was intending to find some way of removing the chains, for there was certainly no intention of keeping a slave here. He wondered absently if there was some complicated magic upon this one, as well. He was quite surprised to find that he recognized the face of the girl before him now.

When Hikari looked up toward him, Takeru opened his eyes wide, and fell back from his knees so that he was sitting on the ground. His mouth fell open, as though he intended to say something, but words completely failed him, and so he merely sat there blinking at her.

Iori was standing a short distance away, still frowning at the scroll of paper, as though the name or the words upon it made some sense to him. He took no notice of Takeru nor his strange actions. Nor did the few other people in the room, who were quietly milling about carrying papers and other such important documents. Iori had been in the midst of some sort of important task involving said documents when Takeru and the visitors had interrupted him.

Takeru blinked a few times more and saw that he still recognized the girl in front of him and he had not been imagining it. Hikari did not look frightened or in any way troubled; in fact, she was smiling at him as though she found his surprise amusing. After a moment or two, Takeru regained his wits and climbed back to his knees, his dumbstruck expression slowly being replaced with confusion and concern. Hikari sobered, the expression in her eyes changing to more serious, and she tilted her head slightly toward the room behind her.

Takeru understood immediately. He cleared his throat and looked up toward Iori, who was at long last setting down the scroll, apparently intending to get back to work. "Ah, do you think we could have a moment alone?" Takeru asked, nodding slightly toward Hikari, who had turned her head in such a way that Iori could not clearly see her.

Iori frowned in confusion, not completely understanding the reasoning, but shrugged, assuming that all would be explained once the room had been cleared. The clerks in the room, taking the hint from both the spoken and unspoken words, left immediately, the last one shutting the door behind him.

Barely had he done so than Takeru spoke the first words which clearly had entered into his head. "What's going on here?"

He had not decided upon speaking them whether he was intending to be confused, annoyed, or angry, and so his question came out as a mixture of all three, directed not only toward Hikari but the room in general.

Iori opened his mouth to respond, but before he could do so, Hikari spoke, startling him into silence. "Before you say anything further, read this."

She was holding another small scroll of paper in her hands, and she reached out to Takeru as she spoke, handing him the paper. He frowned severely, noting the chains which clanked when she moved, but took it from her, glancing briefly toward Iori as he did so. Iori had gone from shocked to confused in a much more rapid sequence than Takeru, and had a thoughtful frown upon his face now.

Takeru unrolled the paper and frowned at it in confusion. He lowered it immediately and peered over it at Hikari. "I can't read this. It's not even in our language."

"I know. You don't have to understand it, you only need to read it. Aloud."

He frowned more deeply but concluded that nothing much was likely to come from reading a piece of paper that was written in another language. Feeling only a little silly, Takeru stumbled over the six lines of what seemed to his ears to be nonsense. The language was odd, occasionally seeming to be made entirely of vowels and at other times filled to the brim with consonants. He was certain he had pronounced at least half of it completely wrong, but as there was no one present who had any idea of what he had read, it didn't much matter.

At the end of it, Takeru lowered the paper, letting it roll back into the form it had taken previously. "What did I read?" he asked.

"Magic," Hikari replied. "It's a spell from the Western Isles; to make certain we aren't overheard. Keep it with you, you'll need it again."

"There is some harm in being overheard?" Iori questioned. "What secret do you carry?"

"My location, for one," she answered, and raised her arms. "These keep my magic hidden, so magic cannot detect me. There are other ways, though, which are less mysterious."

"Who are you hiding from?" Takeru asked. "The same people who took you? Did they come for you again?"

Hikari shook her head. "No, I went willingly this time, on a mission of information. I know now the reasoning behind what's happened; the history."

Iori and Takeru exchanged quick glances. "You went North disguised as a slave? On your own?" Takeru concluded.

"Does the King know?" Iori asked.

"Does Daisuke know?" Takeru added on.

Hikari shook her head in answer to both questions. "I didn't ask for permission," she admitted. "I was the only person who could have gone, who would have gotten any answers."

Takeru leaned back once more, falling to a sitting position. "Who on earth did you ask for help?" he wondered. "Who in the North would have helped you?"

She didn't answer immediately, and then shrugged. "No one you'd know," she said then, which, he guessed, was a polite way of saying that she didn't wish to tell him.

"I suppose you need safe passage home," Iori said after a moment, ever practical as he always was. "Which won't be easy, all things considered."

Hikari nodded. "It doesn't have to be anything elaborate," she assured him. "I'd like to go as quickly as possible, and quietly."

Now Iori nodded. Quickly and quietly was something he could manage. "We'll leave first thing in the morning, if that's all right," he said. "Or would you like a day to rest?"

Hikari shook her head. "No. Morning is great. Any longer here and you'll have to explain my presence to someone. I'm sure _someone_ in Hida will recognize me, and then you'll not only have to explain why I'm here, but how I got here, and, well…." She trailed off, but glanced down at her wrists with a shrug.

"Wait a minute," Takeru interrupted. "You're going?"

"I am," Iori replied. "What better way for me to ensure her safety than if I travel with her?" He shrugged. "Something happens to her on the road, and I'm sure I'll have to answer for it, either way."

"I'm very grateful," Hikari said appreciatively.

"Then I'm going, too," Takeru stated. For a moment, it seemed as though he was intending to say something else, but he did not.

Iori nodded. "First thing come morning then. Until then, I have things that must be done."

Takeru got to his feet at last, and reached down to help Hikari up. "I suppose I should find you some place to rest where you won't be found," he said. "Are you sure you're feeling all right?"

"I'm tired," Hikari confessed, "but aside from that I'm fine. I'm not hurt." She had a feeling she would again need to repeat this statement several times over once she returned home.

***

"Not like that," Daisuke corrected, half shouting across the room to be heard over the sounds of clanking metal. "Hold it with both hands, higher up."

The boy who was the recipient of his advice attempted to correct his hold upon the grip of his sword, and then glanced back toward him with a questioning expression. When he got a satisfactory nod, the boy turned back to his mock opponent and swung his weapon.

"Is it really a good idea to have them practice with real swords?" V-mon questioned. He was lying on his back on a nearby shelf, looking at the room upside down.

Daisuke shrugged absently, and flinched as one of the students came very close to losing an ear. He called out a warning, but it was barely listened to. "It's what they've been doing for the last two months, so I suppose that means they're ready for it," he answered with a sigh, and then yawned. Though he'd slept enough and done little, he was tired.

His thoughts were not completely on the lesson, nor had they been for the last hour, but he couldn't help but wonder exactly what their regular teacher had been teaching them for the last two months, because it didn't appear as though they'd learned much of anything.

Suddenly, all the sounds of clanking blades and related conversation halted, as each of the ten students halted what he had been doing and lowered his weapon. Nearly all of them were staring, wide eyed, toward the door, and so Daisuke turned his head, wondering what had caught their attention.

The King himself stood in the doorway, leaning casually against the frame. Noting the attention, he waved one hand absently. "Don't stop on my account," he said.

Though none of the boys was a complete stranger to the sight of the King, since they had been staying at the palace for the past few months, the sight of him in the doorway of their lesson had apparently startled them nonetheless. Despite his command, there was some hesitation in returning to their practice, and the sound of metallic clanking was not quite so loud at first.

After a few moments had passed, however, the swordplay continued at its previous intensity. As it is not wise to pay attention to anything other than one's opponent whilst engaged in battle, the students were forced to ignore all distractions and focus upon their tasks.

Daisuke had one eye upon the students, ever fearful that one of them might accidentally decapitate another, and the other upon Taichi, who appeared to actually be somewhat interested in the lesson. Though it was generous of him to feign interest, Daisuke suspected it was not his actual reason for being present.

Another interruption came at that moment in the form of a loud gong sounding in the palace gardens outside, signaling that the hour had changed. As one, the students lowered their weapons and turned toward Daisuke with a questioning expression. He shrugged, indicating they should go, and an immediate exodus began.

"They've improved," Taichi noted, slipping through the crowd of adolescents with ease. "Must be the fault of their new teacher."

Daisuke shrugged and managed to suppress a yawn, uncertain of how to accept what was obviously a very generous compliment. He frowned in the direction of the last student, who was shutting the door behind him. "They're awful," he replied bluntly. "I can't imagine how awful they used to be if you think they've improved."

"Fairly awful," Taichi admitted. "I didn't expect to see you teaching a class. What's happened to Oyama?"

"Something about a family emergency with his granddaughter," Daisuke answered, shrugging again. "They asked me to fill in, apparently just for today."

A moment of silence passed. Taichi absently wandered over to the window and peered out at the gardens. A small crowd of young women was strolling past at that precise moment, and the sound of their voices could easily be heard in the quiet room. Daisuke waited, guessing that he would come to his point before long, and without any assistance.

"There's still been no sign," Taichi said then, apparently quite interested in something off in the distance. "The mages have been looking, Koushiro says he's cast every spell he can think of, and there's no sign of her."

"Well, she has to be _somewhere_," Daisuke replied with conviction. "Maybe they're not looking in the right places, or with the right kind of magic."

For some reason, this statement caused Taichi to laugh. It was only a short little bark of laughter, quickly silenced, but there was nevertheless something he had apparently found amusing, which only served to confuse Daisuke.

"You sound like my sister," Taichi said, turning back away from the window with a slight shake of his head. "She said the exact same thing about you when you vanished off the face of the earth and couldn't be found by magic."

He was simply noting an interesting coincidence, but this statement caused Daisuke to frown in serious thought. "Did she?" he wondered absently.

"I don't suppose you have any idea how you managed to hide from magic, do you?" Taichi asked. Daisuke immediately shook his head.

"I know very little about the ways of magic," he answered, "and even less about any magic that was used on me at that time. I don't even have very clear memories from then."

"Hmm," came the response, along with a sigh. "I had a feeling that would be your answer," Taichi admitted. "Still, it was worth a try. I also don't suppose she gave you any hint to where she might have gone?"

Again Daisuke shook his head, this time throwing his arms up in a gesture of frustration. "I thought she was staying here," he said. "I told her that here would be the safest place, that you could keep her safe, and she agreed with me. She never even hinted that she might leave." He sighed, and leaned his head back against the wall he had been leaning against.

"So it could be that she decided to leave at some point after she came here," Taichi concluded. "It wasn't something planned, but something spontaneous. She teleported," he recalled, "so perhaps she meant to return right away, but couldn't."

"Maybe," Daisuke replied with another sigh, "or maybe she simply didn't tell me her plans."

Taichi considered this a moment, and then shook his head. "No," he said finally. "I think she would have told you if she planned to leave."

***

And now, a random Japanese language lesson. _Kitano_ means, quite literally, "of the north"…as _kita_ means north and _no_ is the particle indicating ownership or something like that.

_Otonashi_, in case you were wondering, is borrowed from another anime character and means, according to the interwebs, "without sound." _Oto_ means noise and _nashi_ negates things, thus "without sound."

Sometimes, if I need a random name, I often borrow it from elsewhere. In case you were wondering, I don't own any of those things, either.

Thanks for reading.


	27. Reunions

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Twenty-Seven: **Reunions**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all characters, money, etc, does not belong to me. Plot, however, does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

***

Another night had passed, and still it did not seem as though Miyako had grown any stronger. Ken awoke with the first hints of sunlight slipping through the grate overhead, a chill still in the air, and spotted her lying upon the floor a short but impenetrable distance away.

Perhaps he was imagining it, but she looked to be more tired than she had the day before, even while sleeping. Her hair was tangled and limp, half fallen into her face, half scattered over the ground behind her. She was looking terribly pale and thin, features accentuated by the ragged garment that had been given to her. She'd curled herself into a ball in an attempt to ward off the cold, but it hadn't helped much and she was shivering slightly, even in sleep.

Though he wanted to wake her, if only to be certain she was still capable of waking, Ken kept silent, allowing her to sleep. He moved in as close to the barrier as possible, wishing there was some way that he might give her the small, thin blanket he had. Cautiously, he placed on hand near the invisible wall and immediately felt the skin upon his palm and fingertips tingle with the nearness of magic. He wished that he could see the magic; then he might have some chance of breaking it.

There was a sound behind him then, and he turned sharply to notice that another swordsman had appeared a short distance away. He waited, wondering if something would happen or if the man had simply appeared to deliver more food or water.

The swordsman stood still and silent for a long moment. Ken was tempted to call out a question, but stopped himself, remembering Miyako's statement that they were not alive. Instead, he waited, and after some time the silent visitor bent to the ground. Something, Ken could not clearly see what, clanked as it met the cold stone ground. Then, the swordsman vanished.

For a long moment, Ken waited to see if something else would happen, and then curiosity got the better of him and he crawled forward, crossing the space between.

A small red jewel glinted in the dim light, catching his eye. It was set in a surrounded of an ancient metal that appeared to be silver. A thin chain of the same metal was strung through a loop at the top of the surround. Ken took the jewel in his hand and examined it for a long moment. He had seen something similar before and had no doubts about what it was, but was confused about why it had been left there.

He looked around the space at the tall stone walls that surrounded them, waiting for some sort of explanation that he had a feeling would not actually come. He turned back toward Miyako after a long moment had passed.

She hadn't moved, but was still sleeping. Thoughtfully, Ken glanced down at the crystal, and then came to a decision.

***

The sun had risen almost halfway through the sky by the time Daisuke was awakened by the sound of pounding on his door. Unwilling to rise, he rolled on to his stomach and pulled the pillow over his head. The pounding continued for a few moments, but then the door opened, and it stopped.

Shijo stood in the doorway, a disapproving frown upon his face. "Are you still in bed?" he questioned.

"Go away," Daisuke mumbled from under the pillow. "I'm sleeping." At the foot of the bed, V-mon poked his head out from underneath the blankets and squinted in the daylight.

"You went to bed right after the sun went down, and now it's almost noon," the boy pointed out. "How much sleep do you _need_?"

"More than I've gotten," came the muffled response. "Go away."

Shijo had already opened the wardrobe door, and was pulling out clothes even as he spoke. "Sorry," he said, "but you're being summoned, and I've promised to deliver you."

"Summoned where?" Daisuke wondered, lifting his head out from under the pillow for the first time. Shijo was pulling out a bright orange shirt and examining it as though he was considering it seriously. "Where did that come from?"

"In there," the boy answered, pointing toward the wardrobe. "I guess you don't want to wear it?"

"Not particularly," he replied, pushing aside the covers and sitting up. "Summoned by who?"

"Lord Hida," Shijo answered. "He's just arrived, and asked me to find you."

Daisuke blinked in the bright sunlight, even more confused, and took the shirt handed to him. "Iori?" he asked. "What's he want with me?"

"He didn't say," Shijo replied. "He only said he wanted to see you right away. I would have told him it might be a while if I had known you were still sleeping."

Daisuke mumbled something unintelligible and got to his feet. He yawned widely and stretched his arms over his head, then pulled off the shirt he'd been sleeping in and pulled the clean one on. If it had required buttoning, he might not have succeeded in doing so correctly, as simply pulling it over his head was difficult enough.

It took him only a few more minutes to successfully dress, though Shijo thought that he still looked slightly less than presentable. His hair was tousled more than usual, the result of having only recently wakened from sleep, and he looked tired, as though he had not actually been sleeping. Once more, Daisuke yawned and then rubbed at his eyes.

"Do you think there might be something wrong with you?" Shijo questioned with some concern as they left the room and headed down the hall, V-mon following behind with a shuffle in his step, rubbing his eyes.

"There are many things wrong with me," Daisuke replied with a shrug. "Exactly what they are depends upon who you ask."

"I'm serious," the boy replied. "You slept all night and half the day and you're still tired. Do you think maybe you might be getting sick?"

Daisuke shrugged absently. "I'm lazy, that's all," he answered, and summoned up a grin to add to this response, which only made the boy frown more severely. He sighed then, guessing that a serious answer was not likely.

"What's Iori doing here?" V-mon asked sleepily. "He doesn't usually come south unless there's something important."

"He didn't say," Shijo answered.

"I can't imagine what he wants me for," Daisuke said, and then interrupted himself with another yawn. He hadn't been paying much attention to where they were going, having assumed that Shijo knew the destination, and so was not entirely prepared when they halted beside what appeared to be a random door.

The hall they were in, Daisuke realized as he rubbed his eyes and attempted to make his mind come more fully awake, was one of several in the palace filled to the brim with sitting rooms and parlors. Each was only slightly different from the last, and most were not used on a regular basis. For the most part, these parlors were used as gathering places for traders and businessmen conducting transactions for which they might require a bit of discretion. It was well known that if ever anyone desired a few moments of privacy, either alone or with a companion, these parlors might be a destination of choice.

Shijo was already pushing open the door, and Daisuke saw that the parlor chosen was quite similar to most of the others he had seen. It was a small but decent sized room with a large window on the wall opposite the door which looked out across the landscaping of the space beyond. A handful of overstuffed armchairs were scattered about the room, mostly clustered near a fireplace on the left wall. A single couch was also present, covered with a flowery sort of fabric that was faded and tired from many years of service.

It was upon this couch that Iori sat, for all appearances absently lost in thought as he studied the empty fireplace nearby. It was not cold enough to warrant a fire, and the sunlight streaming through the window let in plenty of light and warmth, even with the drapes pulled half shut. Having heard the door open, the young Lord of Hida turned his head toward the door.

Daisuke stepped through and heard Shijo close the door behind him as he left. He took a moment to take stock of his surroundings – not only the state of the room, but the people within it as well. Armadimon had settled into a restful napping position on a small rug near the cold fireplace. He opened one eye, noting the newcomer, but returned to sleep a moment later.

Takeru was standing a short distance behind the couch, a frown upon his face that was formed half of concern and half of thoughtful contemplation. His arms were folded across his chest. Patamon was, as he often was, observing the scene from the vantage point of his partner's head, but he, too, seemed more interested in napping than anything else, as his eyes were also half-shut.

In the corner of the room, apparently quite interested in something out the window, stood a third person, not easily identifiable. Whoever it was wore a long cloak with a hood that completely obscured all features.

Iori had gotten to his feet and taken a few steps forward. "Thanks for coming," he said immediately. "I hope I didn't interrupt something important."

Daisuke shook his head, turning his eyes and mind away from the mysterious person in the back of the room. "No," he said, and interrupted himself immediately with a yawn. "Trying to catch up on sleep, that's all."

V-mon climbed into the nearest armchair and fell backward, looking as though he was ready to return immediately to sleep. Takeru shifted his frown more toward concern and squinted his eyes, perhaps as though he was attempting to see oncoming illness the way Miyako saw magic.

"It's nearly noon," he pointed out, not bothering with any sort of tact whatsoever. "Are you feeling all right?"

"I feel fine," Daisuke replied, shrugging. "What's this about?"

Takeru was still frowning, as though he didn't quite trust this claim to health. He glanced briefly toward Iori, who shrugged and sat back down. "Have a seat," the younger said, gesturing toward another armchair.

Daisuke sat down, feeling all the more confused by the moment. "Does this have something to do with…?" he began, but Iori interrupted him.

"Not yet," he said, and turned toward Takeru. "Go ahead."

Takeru sighed, and then pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket. He unrolled it and held it out in front of him. He took a deep breath, as though preparing himself for something of importance, and then began to read.

His voice sounded normal enough, but his words made no sense. For a moment, Daisuke wondered if he was more tired than he'd thought, for it didn't seem as though Takeru was speaking any recognizable words. It took him a few more moments before he realized that this was because the words were in another language. As the reading went on, Daisuke began to feel, oddly enough, as though some of the words were familiar to him. At the same moment that Takeru finally stopped speaking and rolled the paper once more, Daisuke realized what the language was, and where he'd heard it previously.

"That was a spell," he stated. Takeru and Iori exchanged glances once again.

"Yes," Takeru answered. "How did you…?"

"It was a spell from the Western Isles," Daisuke went on, once more surprising the one who had read it. "What did it do? Where did you get it?"

"It prevents eavesdropping," Takeru replied immediately. "We need to make sure we're not overheard."

"Where did you get it?" Daisuke asked. When the question wasn't immediately answered, he leaned forward in his seat.

Once more Takeru glanced toward Iori, who was watching this exchange with wide eyes. "I…," he began, and stumbled over his words for a moment. "It was given to me," he finally said.

"Given to you?" Daisuke echoed, and then stood up. "Who? Who gave it to you?"

"I…," Takeru began again, and once more faltered over his words. He took an unconscious step backward.

"I did," said a voice that had not previously been heard, and all eyes turned toward the one who had spoken. It was the mysterious figure in the back of the room. No longer was this person peering out the window, however, for now she had turned to face the room at large.

Takeru and Iori turned back toward Daisuke almost as one and saw that he had not taken his eyes from the figure but was staring at it with a strange mixture of surprise and confusion. In a matter of seconds, the figure had crossed the room, however, and halted a short distance before Daisuke. Then, taking everyone completely by surprise, she sank down to the floor.

"I'm sorry," she said then. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble. I was looking for answers, and I thought I could find them in the North." Daisuke did not immediately respond to this statement, and a silence hung in the air for a few moments. "Forgive me."

Daisuke had not moved, had not spoken, but had merely gone on staring at her as though he did not quite know what to make of the situation. In an instant, nearly everything had been explained to him, and yet so much remained unanswered. He sighed, letting the tension escape him, and then sank down to his knees as well.

She had not raised her head, but was still focusing intently upon the floor at his feet. Slowly, he reached out one hand and placed it upon her shoulder, and then, with the other hand, reached for her chin and lifted her head up.

The hood fell off from the cloak at that moment, and Hikari looked up at him. He could see nervousness, perhaps a bit of fear, in her eyes, and exhaustion as well; perhaps something more, even. Yet here she was, alive despite what the mages had said about not being able to find her. Here she was, apparently unharmed, undamaged.

A thousand thoughts ran through his mind, and every emotion from anger to astonishment to relief. He hadn't the faintest idea how to express any of it in words, nor which was more appropriate to say. After a few moments of what the others interpreted as astonishment, he pulled her in close and allowed the hug to transmit what he felt and couldn't say.

Iori and Takeru looked once more at each other and let out simultaneous sighs of relief. Takeru finally sat down on the couch beside Iori.

After a moment, the embrace ended. Daisuke leaned back, pushing Hikari away from him, and once more studied her face. "Are you hurt?" he asked. "Are you all right?"

"I am," she replied immediately. "I'm not hurt."

He sighed, a definite expression of relief now, and let his eyes fall shut for a brief moment. "You've scared us half to death," he admitted. "They couldn't find you with magic. No one had any idea where you went."

"I know," Hikari answered. "I'm sorry. I didn't intend to be gone so long."

Daisuke was getting to his feet, and he now reached down one hand to help her up. She didn't take it, however, but got up on her own. In an attempt to divert the oddity of this action, she said, "I got what I went for. I have answers for you."

"Answers?" he echoed. "What answers?"

"It's a long story," Hikari replied. "Have a seat."

***

It was the sound of insects chirping that woke Miyako this time, and when she squinted her eyes open she saw that the bright sunlight was shining upon her. She could see leaves, could hear them crunching quietly as she turned in preparation to sit up.

She was sitting in a forest, had been lying upon the ground in a bed of dirt and a few leaves. The air was cool but not cold, and not uncomfortable for sleeping. Looking up, she saw trees extending toward the skies, which were a bright, clear blue with nary a cloud.

An illusion? she wondered, but could see nothing of magic. The smell of dirt and leaves, the feel of it beneath her, seemed real enough; though she knew very little about how real illusions might seem. Had she dreamt the last few days in the room without doors or windows?

Ken was lying upon the ground a short distance away, half buried by leaves and blossoms that had apparently fallen off the trees overhead. He did not appear to be hurt, only sleeping. Miyako crawled to him and experimentally reached out one hand toward him. It reached his shoulder without any resistance from barriers or anything else.

"Ken?" she asked, and when he did not answer, she repeated his name, shaking him slightly. He did not awaken, did not stir in the slightest, but something solid fell from his hands and thudded quietly in the dirt.

Miyako picked it up immediately and turned it over in her hands. It was a small object that fit in her palm with ease, a small red jewel that glinted in the sunlight. It was set into a silvery surround, a thin chain dangling as she held it.

She knew what it was immediately. Despite her weakness, her lack of magic, the jewel almost glowed with the magical pathways in her sight, which had not left her. It was a teleportation crystal, and it explained immediately how it was that she was now in this forest rather than in the room she had spent the last handful of days.

Miyako sat back, staring at the object with a mixture of confusion and relief. She looked back toward Ken and sighed. "I hope you haven't exhausted yourself beyond recovery," she said to his silent form, "because I don't know that I could help you."

She had never so much longed for the advice of Hawkmon, who in all his practicality would have easily found a solution. They could not spend much more time in this forest, unprotected, and she would be foolish to believe that the enemy would not come after them. It was certain they had not simply been allowed to leave, yet how had Ken come by a crystal if it had not been given?

Weaponless, he was essentially harmless, and he could not have forced one of the swordsmen to give up a crystal without destroying them. They were not real, they were magical creations, which meant they were not so easily killed as real men. A sword's blade, straight through, would do the job, but it was difficult to imagine how Ken would have managed such a thing.

Without Hawkmon, though, how was she took get them away from this place? Though her physical strength was apparently returning, Miyako would not be able to walk far on her own, and she certainly couldn't carry or drag Ken behind her. She would need her partner, and Ken would need his, if they were to survive.

The crystal was glowing slightly, or so it seemed, and she studied it for a long moment. Even with all her magic, it would take a lot to teleport to the place (wherever that might be) that their partners were, and then return with them. Weak as she was, she certainly couldn't manage it.

Experimentally, Miyako raised one hand out, palm upward. She summoned the magic, and saw a few faint tendrils of it appear around the tips of her fingers. She twitched a few of them in a practiced manner and saw a brief spark flare in the empty space.

It was a tiny spark, a brief flicker of light and flame, and it was gone almost as soon as it had appeared. All the same, Miyako felt a brief bit of hope, for if she had managed that much, then perhaps her magic would return, eventually. She looked back toward the crystal in her other hand and, experimentally, willed the tiny magic tendrils to enter the pathways within the crystal.

The jewel began to glow, faintly at first, and then with more intensity, and with heat, so that before long the metallic surround was almost too hot to touch. Instinctively, she dropped the object, but the chain that was connected to it remained, looped around her hand.

The glowing increased in intensity, and then the leaves upon the forest floor directly beneath it began to dance. Miyako slid backwards upon her knees, somewhat fearful of this magic that she was not controlling. She could see the glowing lights extend outward from the crystal and spin and flash in the space and she did not know if they were only visible to magic-sight, or if they were actually there for all to see. There was no one else present to question.

The light grew suddenly more intense than before, and she shut her eyes and turned her head away from the jewel. After a moment, curiosity got the better of her, though, and she squinted back at it. The light abruptly vanished, but not before leaving a few black spots in her field of vision.

Miyako rubbed at her eyes for a few moments and then blinked several times before her vision, both magical and ordinary, cleared. When it had, she saw that two small digimon were lying in the empty space before her.

"Poromon," she mumbled sleepily, and then, abruptly and unexpectedly, felt the energy drain from her body. She collapsed once more on the ground beside Ken and fell to sleep.


	28. History

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Twenty-Eight:** History**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, characters, money, etc, does not belong to me. Plot does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

***

"A long time ago, the land known today as Yagami was filled with poor peasants and a few corrupt Lords. The land was under almost constant attack from barbarians, and the Lords controlled only small sections of land. Their power was temporary, and the land changed hands almost yearly."

Takeru, Iori, Daisuke, and even the digimon, were nodding in agreement. This was the story of Kingdom's founding as they had heard it told since childhood.

"The First King united the Lords and drove out the barbarians," Takeru concluded. "Right?"

"That's the way the story goes," Patamon agreed.

Hikari nodded. "It wasn't easy, though," she went on. "Some of the Lords didn't want there to be a King, didn't want to have to answer to a higher authority. They were reluctant to unite with the others because they thought they might lose their lands to those they had once called allies. There were four who joined immediately, and they were the future King's first friends and most loyal followers."

This was not a part of the story that they were quite as familiar with, and so the others present frowned in thought and contemplation, taking in this news. "The first Lords in the new Kingdom?" Iori said after a moment, and Hikari nodded again.

"Do you know who they were?" she asked, and was not surprised to receive only blank looks in response. "Kido, Takaishi," and here she nodded briefly toward Takeru, in acknowledgment of his heritage, "Motomiya," she turned toward Daisuke, "and Otonashi."

The first three names were unsurprising and familiar, but the last caused only confused looks. "Otonashi?" Iori echoed. "I don't know that name." He turned toward Takeru and Daisuke, who also shook their heads. Iori was quite familiar with all the lands of the Kingdom – if he didn't know the name, it was likely because there was no one who was called that.

"It's not really surprising," Takeru said after a moment. "I'm sure that in a few hundred years the name might have died out." He shrugged.

"I suppose," Iori said, frowning in thought. He turned back toward Hikari, and the others did as well.

"The first Lord of Kido, it may not surprise you to know, was a practical man, a doctor. He believed in science and in rational ways, and had no time for magic or mystery. He was a good fighter as well, but his real skill was in healing."

"Takaishi was, perhaps, the opposite," Hikari went on, once more turning toward Takeru with a contemplative expression. "He was a healer by means of magic, and was credited with saving many lives on the battlefield. He could fight if he needed to, for all Lords had to defend their lands, but he would always seek another way first."

Takeru blinked in astonishment. "One of my ancestors was a healer?" he asked, and had nothing more to say after that.

"I suppose that might explain something," Iori said thoughtfully, "about how it is that you have that magic, even though it was said to have died here a long time ago."

"Magical abilities _are_ hereditary," Daisuke said with a shrug, "so maybe the healing ability was simply hidden for a few dozen generations. That, and, if there was no one else to teach it…."

"True," Takeru agreed with a shrug. He turned back toward Hikari. "Go on," he said and nodded toward Daisuke, "I want to know what his ancestor was like." He grinned mischievously.

Daisuke shrugged again. "I would guess he was a brilliant swordsman with a fiery temper and a stubborn streak," he replied, listing immediately the qualities for which his family had always been known.

"He was a wizard," Hikari said quietly, and this shocked the room into silence.

"A wizard?" Takeru echoed, and then laughed. "I can't imagine what damage Daisuke might do with magic!"

"That's not possible," Daisuke said, shaking his head.

"It is quite surprising," Iori agreed. "Do you suppose it's possible he's not related after all?"

Hikari shook her head, "No, he is. I'm sure of that. Your ancestor," she went on, speaking to Daisuke now, "was a wizard with a brilliant range of magical talent, who was also an amazing swordsman with a fiery temper and a stubborn streak. According to the histories, he used magic to aid his sword fighting, rather than instead of it, and he was quite successful at it."

Daisuke was still shaking his head. "No one in my family has had _any_ magical talent," he said, "in centuries."

"Well, this was before then," Takeru concluded. "The Kingdom was founded a very long time ago, remember."

"That's true," Daisuke admitted.

"What about the last one, Otonashi?" Iori wanted to know. "What was he like?"

Hikari frowned thoughtfully, then continued. "If Kido despised mystery, Otonashi thrived in it. Very few people could have been said to _know_ him, though the King trusted him and his loyalty to the cause of uniting the Kingdom did not waver. He was a wizard, and a good one, but unlike Motomiya, he devoted himself to the pursuit of magic entirely. No one ever saw him lift a sword with his hands, and he never used weaponry in battle, unless he enspelled it."

Takeru, too, was frowning thoughtfully, and he had folded his arms across his chest. He looked for a moment as though he was about to speak, but Hikari had not finished.

"The others did not get along with Otonashi well, it seems. Kido, who had an affection for more practical things, did not like his fondness for mystery and deception, and did not trust him. Takaishi was not overly fond of his personality, for Otonashi was not willing to open up to anyone about anything and did not easily make friends. The King trusted him immensely, but the others could not help but feel wary in his presence. The only one who had anything close to friendship with the man," she paused here briefly and looked toward Daisuke, "was Motomiya."

"Friendship," Takeru recalled, studying Daisuke with a thoughtful expression. "He makes friends with villagers, with enemies, with bandits."

"This Otonashi," Iori said then, "did he study the darker parts of magic?"

Hikari shrugged. "No one knows for sure. It was certainly rumored, of course, but there was never any definitive proof. No one ever _saw_ him cast a dark spell, but the magic he used was certainly on that side of the spectrum."

"How could a dark wizard be loyal to the King?" Takeru wondered. He was looking at Daisuke at the same time, as though wondering how someone could make friends with a dark wizard.

"There are more things governing loyalty than magic," Iori said in answer. "Maybe there was something he might gain if Yagami united under the King."

Hikari was nodding. "There was," she said. "He gained land, and his land gained security with the protection of a King. When the barbarians were driven out, the biggest and best parts of the land were given to those that had been the most loyal to the new King."

"Otonashi got a large section of land?" Takeru asked.

"He got the land nearest to Motomiya," Hikari answered, "since neither Takaishi nor Kido wished to have him so close."

"The land nearest…you mean the space across the river?" Daisuke concluded. "To the east?"

She nodded.

"Wait a minute," Takeru interrupted. "The land where the Ogremon appeared and attacked my brother and the village? The land near the Primary Village? The land that leads to the wasteland of a desert? The land that…."

Hikari was nodding at each of these statements.

"It's not the only entrance to the Primary Village," Patamon pointed out, "it's only the one that's nearest to us, so we are the most familiar with it."

"Was that entrance formed – did Otonashi make that entrance?" Takeru wondered. Hikari shrugged.

"I don't know exactly how an entrance to the Primary Village is made," she answered. "I think you'd have to ask Elecmon, and I don't know if he'd tell you."

"The land to the East of Motomiya," Iori said thoughtfully, "once belonged to Otonashi. Today, it's only unoccupied forest that extends to the border. Past the border, the desert begins." He frowned for a moment. "It was the lands to the east that the Kaiser once tried to claim."

This was what Takeru had stopped himself from saying, but Iori had no such hesitation. A moment of silence briefly hung in the air after this statement.

"After the barbarians were driven out and the land was allotted," Hikari said then, continuing with her story, "there was quiet and peace in the land for nearly a decade. The First King married the First Queen. Kido and Takaishi both had several children. Other lands were given to other Lords who had been loyal to the King, or who proved their loyalty in peacetime. Otonashi was hard at work, it seems."

"At work on what?" asked Takeru, who had seriously begun to distrust this mysterious character of a bygone era.

***

Ken awoke as the sun began to sink. He sat up abruptly in the cool silence of the dusk, heart pounding as he coped with the reality of an unfamiliar place. After a moment, he recalled all that had happened, and that he had teleported himself and Miyako to this forest, where he had hoped they might be safe for a bit of time. Though he had expected the effort to tire him, he had not expected to spend the rest of the day asleep.

He looked first for Miyako, who was lying beside him. He wondered if she, too, had slept the whole day, or if she had awakened while he slept. She did not look any more well-rested than she had during their imprisonment, and he hoped that she did not suffer from some mysterious spell, similar to that upon Hikari, which drained her energy.

Briefly, Ken thought that he might teleport them further, but this idea was quickly banished from his head when he attempted to get to his feet and found his legs quite wobbly beneath him. He sat down again, for the dizziness had not made him eager to attempt to walk, and fought bravely against the desire to lie back upon the ground once more.

Miyako mumbled something quietly in her sleep and shifted positions slightly. As she did, Ken glanced toward her and saw a flash of red glinting in the dimming light of the setting sun. He reached toward it and felt his hand make contact with the smooth stone.

It was only then that he spotted, half buried under a cluster of leaves beside Miyako, two tiny shapes in the form of digimon. One was a pink blob, sleeping contentedly, and the other was a small green thing which was looking up at him with big eyes.

Ken had not seen his partner in so long he had begun to give up hope of seeing him again. He reached across the space and took Minomon in his arms. The small digimon sighed contentedly and snuggled closer.

"She brought you here, didn't she?" Ken asked after a moment, looking toward Miyako. "She's barely got enough magic to keep herself alive, and she brought you here."

Minomon looked up at his partner. "Is she going to be all right?" he wondered.

Ken sighed. "I hope so," he said after a moment, "now that I've gotten her away from that place. Maybe whatever was draining her will stop now."

He sat for a long moment as the sun sank lower and lower in the west. A chill began to descend upon the forest. Minomon snuggled closer to his partner. "It's almost night time," he squeaked.

"If I don't build a fire," Ken said, "it's going to get cold." He looked around the space and saw there were a few small sticks and branches scattered amongst the leaves. "If I don't do it before it gets dark, it's going to be very hard to see."

He set his partner down where he had been before, beside Miyako, and got slowly to his feet. A bit of dizziness came upon him, but it passed after a moment, and the world stopped spinning.

It didn't take long to collect a pile of sticks and twigs and arrange them in a pile, but it took longer to start a fire without the aid of magic. Too often, he realized, he and Daisuke had been happy to allow Miyako and magic to do such work for them. Traveling amidst the Ogremon, it had always been Miyako who had started the fire, though they might have gathered wood and even cooked the food. In other ways, too, her magic had slowly become more and more commonplace. Traveling south, she had cast protection spells each night, she had shielded them against enemies, she had lit fires and lifted heavy objects.

"And what have I done in return?" Ken wondered aloud as he labored to create a spark amidst the tinder. "Not very much, I'm sure."

"You brought her here," Minomon pointed out, obviously of the opinion that this was a good thing.

The fire sparked, a moment or two later it was blazing, and he quickly fed it a few more sticks. It would never be a roaring fire, and it would probably die shortly when he fell back to sleep and failed to maintain it, but for now it allowed a bit of light and heat to enter into the clearing.

"Wherever _here_ is," Ken said, sighing. His energy mostly exhausted, he gave in and lay down amongst the leaves, beside the fire. He turned his head and saw Miyako on the other side of the flames, still sleeping. Before long, he had joined her.

***

"The theory," Hikari replied, "is that Otonashi was at work upon a portal to the shadow world. He was of the belief that contact with that world would increase his magical abilities."

"Is that true?" Takeru wondered.

"That is a question for a wizard," she answered. "I don't know. In any case, he believed it, and his attempts to create a portal did not go unnoticed."

"It's not possible to rip open space and not have some sort of consequences," Takeru said thoughtfully. "He caused earthquakes, perhaps?"

"Perhaps," Hikari agreed. "I'm not sure exactly what was happening, but in any case, the closest neighbor to Otonashi was a skilled wizard, and therefore it was not easy for Otonashi to keep his work completely secret. Somehow or other, Motomiya guessed at his intentions, or maybe he had spies. He went to try to stop Otonashi from opening the portal."

There was a moment of silence as Hikari's audience took in these words and waited for the next part of the story, which was promising to be quite exciting.

"Of course, Otonashi was not easily persuaded to stop," she went on, "and tried once again to open the portal he'd been creating. Motomiya put all his strength into preventing it from opening, but apparently, it wasn't enough, because half of the land that had belonged to Otonashi was destroyed."

"The desert," Iori concluded solemnly.

Hikari nodded. "The portal imploded, drawing Otonashi through it. Motomiya used much of his strength in keeping the force of the implosion from destroying more of the land, but he was by that point quite drained and exhausted. The magic used, however, had by this point drawn the attention of every other wizard in the Kingdom, and they came in droves to help.

"The destructive magic and the darkness spread out from the portal in a slow stream, leaking into the world. The wizards of the Kingdom did their best to seal the portal, but enough of the darkness of the shadow world had already escaped to cause damage. The First King created a barrier along the eastern border, hoping to stem the tide of darkness. Other wizards aided him, reinforcing parts which were weakest, lending their strength to the task."

"So that border magic _was_ formed for a reason," Takeru concluded. "To stop darkness from seeping through."

"And the land that had once been Otonashi was deserted," Iori noted, "because it had been infected with the darkness that had escaped from the shadows."

"What happened to them?" Daisuke questioned. "To Otonashi, to my ancestor?"

"Otonashi was never seen again," Hikari replied. "It seems as though he made it through the portal, into the shadow world. He had sons, and a daughter, but they did not claim his land or his title. I'm not sure if that was because they did not want it or because the King did not want them to have it."

"I can't see that they would want land that had been half-destroyed," Takeru noted with a frown, "nor that the King would want them to have it, if they did. If Otonashi was a traitor, his children would not have been seen as friends, either."

Hikari shrugged. "I don't know. There aren't any records of what happened to them after that. It seems as though they simply vanished, perhaps moved overseas. As for your ancestor," she said to Daisuke, "he went on to live a very happy life, and had many children, who had children, who had children, and eventually you were born. The battle with Otonashi, however, took most of his magical strength, and he was never able to do very much magic after that."

"And his descendants were born without magic," Daisuke concluded. He shook his head. "I don't understand. Did Otonashi curse him as he fell through the portal?"

"It's possible," Hikari replied. "I don't know."

"Is it possible," Iori suggested, "that he was so drained that he did not have enough magic to pass to his children?"

"That's another theory," Hikari answered. "No one really knows how magic is passed on. There are brilliant wizards whose children have no magic, and there are brilliant wizards born to families with no history. It is often hereditary, but not always."

There was a moment of silence as all present considered this history, each mulling over his or her own thoughts. In the hall beyond, the sound of conversation quietly filtered through the walls. A few clouds briefly passed over the sun, casting the room into shadow, and then they moved on and the room brightened once more.

"The one responsible for what's happened," V-mon said then, breaking the silence with the first words he'd spoken since arrival, "is he descended from this Otonashi?"

"Seems that way," Daisuke answered. "Unless you can think of someone else?"

V-mon frowned. "We haven't had any luck with that yet, have we?"

"No," his partner answered with a sigh, and leaned back in the chair. "No luck at all."

"Your sister," Iori said then, "is she here?"

Daisuke nodded. "I had to almost drag her here, but she came. I haven't been able to convince my father to leave the fields, but I'll try again. The thing is, though," and he sat up once more, "is that I've been thinking that the land itself might be in danger."

"You mean the fields, the village?" Takeru asked.

"There isn't any magic there, or at least, not very much. There hasn't really been much of a reason for it. The last few generations, I don't think anyone's bothered with protection spells, since even if there was a war, we're far enough from a border that we'd be safe."

"So the spells that are there are probably not much help," Iori concluded with a frown.

"Right," Daisuke agreed, "and I don't think there are any wizards there at all. Unless Wizarmon has wandered through again, there aren't any in the village, and certainly none in the house, unless someone on the kitchen staff hasn't yet manifested."

"Is it possible that the curse, if there is one, could have extended to the villagers?" Takeru wondered, and for a moment all paused to consider this possibility.

"No," Hikari said, "there's a boy from that village who is training to be a wizard." She looked toward Daisuke, who was frowning in thought, and said, "Shijo's brother, remember?"

"He's lived there all his life," V-mon pointed out, "so if he can have magic, then there's surely been some others before him."

Takeru got to his feet, tired from the time he'd spent listening to the story and debating theories while sitting on too-comfortable cushions. "In any case," he said, "this story will have to be told and retold to everyone of importance – at least the King, and probably Koushiro, too. I suppose we ought to get started on that."

"Yes," Iori agreed, also standing up, "and someone should also tell the King that you've come home." He was looking toward Hikari as he spoke.

Hikari nodded. "I am sure I don't look forward to that," she admitted with a sigh, and also rose to her feet. She looked toward Daisuke, who had not yet gotten up but was still sitting in the overstuffed armchair, a thoughtful frown upon his face. "I need to ask a favor of you."

Daisuke turned his eyes from whatever inner thoughts he had been contemplating, toward Hikari, who crossed the space between them and now held out both her hands to him. The folds of the cloak fell back, revealing that a pair of metal cuffs held her wrists, a length of chain between them.

The room was silent. Takeru and Iori once more exchanged brief glances that hinted at trepidation. Hikari did not speak, but heard her heart beating loudly in her ears. Daisuke stared blankly at the chains and shackles for along moment and then looked upward with an expression of confusion.

"They hide my magic," Hikari said, speaking quietly and slowly, as though she were afraid of the words. "I need someone who is…without magic…to remove them."

Daisuke stared at her for a long moment, and, perhaps fearful of what she might see in his eyes, Hikari stared steadily at the floor at her feet. After a moment she heard him stand, and then she felt the bindings leave her wrists for the first time since they had been placed there. She looked up briefly and saw that Daisuke was frowning (though whether at her or the chains or something else she could not clearly determine). He held out the shackles toward Takeru.

"I would guess," he said, "that Koushiro might want to have a look at them."

Takeru took them, nodding. "I suppose I could bring them to him," he volunteered, and glanced briefly toward Iori once more.

"I'll go and see the King," Iori stated simply.

Daisuke nodded briefly in response to both these statements.

Iori and Takeru exchanged glances yet again and then left the room.


	29. Explosions

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Twenty-Nine:** Explosions**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all characters, money, etc, is not mine. Plot, however, is. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

***

The door shut quietly, a soft click as the knob turned, and the sound of soft footsteps could be heard heading down the hallway beyond. The silence within the small parlor continued for several moments afterward.

Hikari wondered if it was fear or only nervousness that she was feeling at the moment, and wondered briefly at the difference between the two. Why was it she was feeling this trepidation? The last few days, she had quietly pondered the reception she might receive upon her return, from Daisuke as well as her brother, and indeed everyone else she knew. Courtesy had prevented Takeru and Iori from voicing anything other than confusion and relief, but Hikari was quite aware that her disappearance would cause some displeasure.

Without access to magic, she had not dreamt of anything prophetic, but only of her own fears. Her dreams had been filled with shouting voices raised in anger. It was perfectly reasonable to expect that her unannounced departure would upset several people. Hikari had seen her brother angry, though never with herself, and it was the memory of that which had influenced her decision to first see Daisuke.

In truth, the meeting with her father, though pleasant, had brought back memories of his vicious temper. Taichi was his father's son, for all that the previous King's existence had been unstated in the past years, and he was capable of similar displays of anger.

In this moment, however, with the silence hanging heavy in the air, Hikari wondered if perhaps she had not chosen wisely. Certainly Taichi was capable of being somewhat terrifying when angry, but at least she knew what to expect. Exactly what Daisuke might now do she could not guess. She did not think that he would yell and shout, and yet nor could she come up with any other plausible reaction.

When several moments had passed, Hikari found that her curiosity was overwhelming her fears, and she moved her gaze away from the floor near her feet and upward toward her surroundings.

Daisuke was still standing a short distance in front of her, a frown upon his face that appeared to be a mixture of several emotions. Hikari could not figure out if he was directing this frown toward her, the situation, or something else entirely. Sensing her gaze, he turned his eyes toward hers, and the frown softened a bit.

It seemed to Hikari as though there was something that should be said, but she didn't quite know what that something was, and so she waited. Another long moment of silence passed, and then she found that her feet were lifted up off the ground, and then the rest of her was following.

It took another moment before she realized that Daisuke had lifted her and was now carrying her toward the door, and then it took a moment before she was able to speak.

"I can walk, you know," she said. By now he was reaching for the doorknob, managing to open it despite the difficulty that might have been expected.

"I know," Daisuke replied, turning sideways to better maneuver them through the doorway. He looked back toward her now, and she was surprised to see a grin upon his face.

The hall was empty of people now, and Daisuke walked quickly through the space, not wishing to be seen by too many people. He rounded a corner and began to ascend an infrequently used staircase. Despite herself, Hikari found that she glanced back, down the stairs that extended below them. As they climbed higher, the stairs below seemed to stretch farther, and she instinctively leaned in closer to him.

He paused at the landing before the steps turned about, to rest and catch his breath before the second climb. "Why…?" Hikari began, and saw that his grin appeared again.

Daisuke set her down upon the nearest step and then sat down beside her. "I wanted to," he said after a moment.

She stared at him in confusion, for this was a rather mystifying response. "Are you…?" she began again, but did not finish the question because Daisuke chose that moment to place one hand upon her cheek, an action which had the immediate effect of silencing her thoughts as well as her words.

Hikari thought afterward that she should have expected the kiss, but she did not, and so was completely stunned by the occurrence. No sooner had it ended, however, then she found herself lifted up once more, and Daisuke was again climbing the stairs.

"I suppose," she said, mostly to herself, "that means you are not."

***

It took Takeru some amount of time before he was able to locate Koushiro. The wizard was not, as expected, in his usual basement workroom, surrounded by piles of books, beakers, and other mysterious objects. Takeru attempted to ask several people about the wizard's whereabouts, but no one had any clue. He wandered the halls for nearly a half-hour before he stumbled upon a maid who recognized both his face and his lost expression. Though he doubted very much that she'd be able to help, he asked her the question he had been asking, and was surprised to find that she knew the answer.

Koushiro _was_ buried beneath piles of books, but it was in a sunlit parlor with Sora rather than in a dingy basement room. Sora had been helping him to search through books of historical record, and she much preferred not having to descend the many steps to the basement. Thus, they had settled into their reading in an upper parlor, and it was there that Takeru finally located them.

His arrival had been neither planned nor announced, as Hikari had wanted to travel quickly and quietly, and as such both Sora and Koushiro were quite surprised to look up from their books to find Takeru standing in the doorway clutching a jumble of metal chains in his hands that clanked loudly when he moved.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said, feeling suddenly quite self-conscious. After several days of traveling, which had been preceded by several days of being and helping the sick, preceded by more traveling and more traveling, Takeru became aware that his clothes were wrinkled and dingy, hardly suitable for a palace visitor.

"Takeru!" Sora said in surprise. She might have gotten to her feet, had doing so not become a bit difficult lately, and so she instead set down the volume she'd been reading and leaned forward in her chair. "Last I heard you were in Hida, helping the sick."

"I was," Takeru replied, having almost forgotten, in the many weeks since he'd been away, that Sora was pregnant now. He had also nearly forgotten the sick of Hida, with the many things that had happened in the last few hours. "I'm happy to report they're all…not sick anymore. I've only just returned."

"And you've brought a souvenir?" questioned Tentomon from his perch upon the back of an armchair where he had been alternately napping and helping with the research. He gestured toward the pile of chains Takeru was still holding.

"Something like that," Takeru replied. "I'm hoping you could take a look at them, Koushiro. Apparently, they hide magic."

The wizard frowned in his direction. "There are several kinds of metals that can do that," he replied, climbing down from his chair and crossing the space between himself and Takeru to take them from him.

"Where did you find them?" Sora wondered, frowning toward Koushiro as he sat back down and began to study the chains with a thoughtful expression.

"I didn't, really," Takeru answered. "Hikari did."

"Hikari?" she echoed. "You've seen her?"

He nodded. "She's here."

"Exactly how did the princess manage to come across these?" Koushiro questioned, looking up from his studies.

Takeru sighed, and sat down in a nearby armchair. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "She hasn't said. All I know is that she appeared in Hida a few days ago wearing those, and asked Iori and me to help her get back here."

"Wearing those?" Sora echoed, gesturing toward Koushiro. "Does Taichi know this yet?"

"He will soon," Takeru replied. "Iori went to talk to him."

She was already beginning to get to her feet before Takeru had finished speaking. Seeing her difficulty with the task, he stepped forward to offer her a hand in assistance. "If I were you," she said to Takeru, "I would stay here and not get within throwing distance of my husband."

His eyes briefly grew wide at the thought. "Do you really think that…?"

"You can never be too careful," Sora replied. "Stay here. I think I will go and stave off disaster."

"Disaster?" Koushiro echoed, one eyebrow raised.

"I'm not going to risk it," she answered, then turned toward Takeru. "Stay here."

***

When they arrived at her bedroom, Hikari saw that Tailmon had gone ahead and made herself comfortable in her usual spot at the foot of the bed. At the sound of the door opening, she opened one eye and looked toward them, then shut her eye once more, for all appearances returning to sleep. V-mon was lying on his back on the bed as well, apparently studying the ceiling, and did not look up, but yawned widely.

"You need to rest, I think," Daisuke was saying as he set her down upon the blankets. He turned, as though he was about to leave, and took a few steps toward the door.

"Wait," Hikari said, and he stopped and turned back, a questioning expression upon his face. "Don't you want to know…where I've been?"

"I can guess," he answered, and she saw that he was now frowning. "You went to see your father."

"I did," she agreed.

Before more could be said, however, the door was flung open with a force strong enough to cause things to fall from the wall. A small painting, hanging upon a nail nearby, fell to the ground with a quiet thud. Tailmon opened both eyes, her ears standing straight up, and V-mon sat up. Both Hikari and Daisuke turned to the doorway.

The simple wooden door was flung up against the wall, and it was probably quite possible that some of the plaster had detached itself. Taichi stood in the doorway, obviously the cause of this destruction. His eyes were narrowed, his teeth clenched into a severe frown, his left arm still stretched out after slamming the door open.

Daisuke took a step backward, as though he was concerned that the next thing to be slammed into a wall might be himself rather than a door. Hikari, still sitting upon the bed, shifted backward and pulled her legs up on to the mattress. Taichi took one step to the side, toward the door, and pointed his right arm toward the doorway. He then spoke one word.

"Out."

There was a moment of tense silence as Daisuke briefly considered arguing the command. He pushed such thoughts from his head almost immediately however, and with a very brief glance toward Hikari, passed through the doorway. V-mon followed, looking as though he was not particularly pleased about having to leave what had been a comfortable napping spot.

When they had gone, Taichi stepped forward, slamming the door shut with no less force than he had opened it. Again the walls shook, and Hikari shifted backward a bit more onto the bed.

"Where the hell have you been?" Taichi demanded. His voice was not quite as loud as it might have been, but nor could it be considered quiet.

She had never quite worked out how she was going to explain where she had been, and so Hikari only mumbled, "In the North."

This was nothing close to a satisfactory answer, and did nothing to cool her brother's temper. "The North," he echoed. "What in the hell were you doing in the North?" When she didn't answer immediately, he went on, "Did you think to possibly _tell_ someone where you were headed? Did you think to possibly let me _know_ that you might be gone almost a week?"

She obviously had not, and so didn't bother to answer his questions. If he had expected her to argue with him, he was surprised, for instead Hikari sat quietly upon the bed, staring at the blankets beneath her and absently twisting the tired and not-very-clean fabric of her skirts between her fingers.

Her silence did nothing to calm him, though, and he went on, blurting out a stream of questions, some of which had been bothering him for several days and some of which popped into his head at that precise moment.

"What good would going North do? Did you forget that someone intends for you to die, and nearly succeeded at killing you? Did you think that you could head North, alone, and no one would care, and nothing would happen? Who did you go to see?"

This last question was definitely one that Hikari could not answer, and so she went on saying nothing and then finally Taichi paused in his stream of questions to take a breath. He took a few steps in one direction and then turned and walked back the way he had come, and then stopped at the edge of the bed.

"Are you going to say _anything_?" he asked.

Apparently she wasn't, for she didn't, and a silence stretched between them for a few moments. Taichi paced a few more steps, then turned, and paced back in the other direction.

"I'm sorry," Hikari finally said. "I didn't mean to be gone so long."

Perhaps the pacing had calmed him, or perhaps her apology, but in any case, Taichi sighed heavily and sat down in a nearby armchair. "You need to _think_ about these things, Hikari," he said in a slightly calmer and quieter voice than he'd been using previously. "You need to remember who you are. You can't just…run off to the North at a moment's notice and not _tell anyone_!"

The last two words were spoken at a slightly louder volume than before, though still not at the level of his previous shouting. "I'm sorry," Hikari said again.

Taichi got to his feet once more, apparently no longer able to sit still. "I can't…," he began, and then changed his mind and started again, "I'm responsible for you, you know. I can't…you can't…." He gave up and voiced a groan of frustration. "If Father was here…."

Hikari looked up at this statement, for it was the first time that Taichi had spoken of their father in quite some time. "He isn't," she said quietly.

"No, and that means that you're _my_ responsibility," her brother replied immediately. "You're my responsibility…until you go…wherever you're going and get married."

It was also the first time that he had spoken directly of _that_. Even now he did not directly ask about the subject, though his hint had been pointed enough that it might as well have been a question. A moment of silence passed as he waited, to see if she would take the bait, but she didn't, and he sighed.

"Look," Taichi went on, deciding it was best to get to the point. "You're going…_He's_ going to expect things." He took a few steps toward the window and turned back toward Hikari, who was looking at him with a confused expression. "He's going to expect…obedience, Hikari. He's going to expect his wife to be obedient. You can't just run off at a moment's notice and not tell anyone. It's not done!"

Hikari stared at him a long moment, as though she had never considered the relationship between a married couple before in her life. This, Taichi reflected, was likely true, for she had never before contemplated marriage.

He sat down again, beginning to feel a bit of a headache forming in his skull, and rubbed at his eyes with one hand. "The way things are supposed to be done," he said, sounding tired now, "is that you're supposed to ask for _permission_ before you travel halfway across the continent. That's how…that's how it would have been done in the past."

_That's_ _how _Father_ would have done it,_ he thought, but didn't say that. It was probably best not to think of his father as a role model. In truth, he hadn't, not in a long time, but for some reason he found his thoughts going in that direction.

"I'm sorry," Hikari said again. "I'll ask next time."

***

Daisuke was loitering absently in the hall a short distance away from Hikari's room. He'd had every intention of going as far away from there as possible without leaving the building, but had paused mid-step at the sound of shouting coming from behind him.

Though the King's temper was whispered about and quietly feared amongst those who resided in the castle even occasionally, few people had ever had much occasion to see him actually angry. The threat of his temper, in truth much exaggerated, was usually enough.

Daisuke had seen him angry before, mostly in relation to Hikari's safety, but he had never seen the King slam open a door with such intensity as to cause things to fall from the wall. He had heard him shout, but never so loud as to be heard down the hall.

He stopped in the hallway, and turned back toward the room he had left, briefly wondering if it was a wise idea to leave Hikari alone with him. He glanced down at V-mon, who looked back up at him with a similarly nervous expression.

"I'm sure that…she'll be fine, right? I mean, he wouldn't do anything to hurt his sister."

"Probably not," V-mon replied after a moment of hesitation.

After some time, the sound of shouting died down, but Daisuke found himself reluctant to leave. He hovered a few moments in the hallway, reasoning with himself. Taichi had not actually said to go anywhere, he'd only said to leave the room.

The sound of footsteps behind him made Daisuke turn his head at that moment, and he saw that Sora was making her way down the hall with a remarkable amount of speed for a pregnant woman. He took a few steps toward her.

"Oh thank heavens, he hasn't killed you," Sora said with a sigh of relief. "Where - ?"

"In there," Daisuke reported, pointing toward the door of Hikari's bedroom. "He was shouting, but it's mostly gotten quiet now."

"Well," she said with another relieved sigh. "That's good, I think." She took a deep breath, straightened herself, and took a step forward. "I'll go in. You, go hide."

"Hide?" Daisuke echoed, and then shook his head. "I'm not hiding."

Sora stopped walking and glanced back toward him. For a moment, she looked as though she might argue with him, but then she shrugged. "Suit yourself," she said, "but don't say I didn't warn you."

Whatever else might have been said was at that moment interrupted by the sound of a door opening and closing down the hall. Both Daisuke and Sora turned their heads in time to see Taichi emerging into the hallway. He shut the door behind him and then frowned at the sight of the two waiting for him.

"I hope you didn't do anything rash," Sora said in a quiet voice with an attempt at casualness.

Taichi said nothing, but frowned even deeper in her direction, and then turned toward Daisuke with the same frown. "I thought I told you to go."

"I did," Daisuke replied immediately, and gestured vaguely toward the hallway around them. "See?"

"Hmm," was the response. "Go farther." With that, Taichi took a few steps down the hall, coming closer to the others. He paused in the space between Daisuke and Sora, and then turned so that he was facing Daisuke.

"In fact, go home," he said then.

Sora let out a small but audible gasp of surprise. "Taichi!"

"Home?" Daisuke echoed, as though he didn't quite understand the word. "I…."

"It's where you're needed, isn't it?" replied the young King. "It's because of _you_ that innocents are endangered. It's because of _you_ that my sister felt the need to travel North. It's because of _you_ that she nearly died in the first place!"

His voice had not quite risen to its previous volumes, but it had grown a bit louder nonetheless. In the silence that followed his remarks, Sora turned her eyes toward Daisuke, who had opened his eyes wide at the words. He couldn't deny the things that had been said, for they were true, but the fact of them stung all the same.

"At first light, head home," Taichi said then, and his voice was cold. "Head home, and protect your land, and don't return until you can guarantee that my sister will be safe if she leaves here."

He did not wait for an answer to this statement, but stormed off down the hallway, his heavy footsteps echoing against the walls. Sora stared after him until he had vanished around the corner, and then she turned back toward Daisuke, who had not moved but was staring blankly at the space where Taichi had been standing.

"He's upset," she said then. "I'm sure that once he's calmed down…."

Daisuke was shaking his head. "No," he interrupted, "he's right." He glanced briefly down the hall toward the door that Taichi had shut, and then turned and headed in the opposite direction.

***


	30. Motomiya

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Thirty: **Motomiya**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie: **_Digimon_, all related characters, money, etc, does not belong to me. Plot, however, does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

***

It was mid-morning, for the sun was gently warming the room, touching at the edge of her eyelids, trying but so far failing to coax her into wakefulness. Murmuring contentedly, Miyako rolled on to her side, intending to snuggle under the warm, soft blankets for a while longer.

She opened her eyes a moment later, however, and found that the bright, open room was quite well lit by the morning sun. Slowly, she sat up, looking around her.

It was not a room that she knew, for both the furniture and the arrangement of it were unfamiliar. She was lying in a large bed which was surrounded on three sides with long, dark blue curtains. The fourth side, to her left, was tied open with cords on either side. The bed itself was covered with warm, silky blankets, sheets, and pillows. At the edge of it, Hawkmon was still asleep, snoring quietly.

Beyond the bed, Miyako could see a large window, through which the sunlight was streaming inward. It was framed with curtains of the same color and material as those which draped the bed, and a window seat was built in front of it, topped with cushions that matched. An armchair of a similar shade was set in the space between the bed and the window, but it was empty.

As the room was cool but not particularly cold, Miyako pushed aside the blankets and slid to the edge. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and only then noticed that she was dressed not in the dress she had worn previously, nor the ragged tunic she had been given, but in a long, clean nightgown. A pair of slippers was conveniently set in the precise space where her feet made contact with the floor.

She took a few steps away from the bed and surveyed the rest of the room, now that she could see beyond the curtains. Across from the foot of the bed, a large fireplace was set into the wall beneath a large landscape painting of a field of grass and a mountain. Two more armchairs which matched the one beside the bed were set in front of the fireplace, resting upon the edge of a small area rug.

The room was larger than it had appeared from the bed. The far wall was a great distance away, and the wall across from the window was also quite a ways from the bed. A few bookshelves lined that wall, along with a set of double doors, which Miyako supposed led to the rest of the house she was in. The wall with the window held another window, a short distance away from the first, and a large armoire filled the space between them.

She had only stood there a few moments, taking in the sight of the large room, when one of the double doors opened with a quiet creak and a young woman entered. She was dressed in what Miyako supposed to be a maid's uniform; a long, sensible sort of dress of the same dark blue as the curtains, a long, crisp white apron over the skirt. She was carrying a tray of food in her right hand as she shut the door with her left, and then she turned into the room and saw that Miyako had been watching her.

Startled by her presence, the maid nearly dropped the tray of food, but recovered quickly, and bowed politely. "Milady. I've brought some breakfast, if you'd like. We didn't know if you would feel up to eating, but…."

She held out the tray as she spoke, and Miyako saw that a hot mug of tea was steaming in one corner beside a plate of delicious-looking food. There were a few rolls, undoubtedly fresh from the oven, and a pile of fluffy scrambled eggs. The sight of it reminded her immediately of how long it had been since she had eaten anything decent, and her stomach rumbled its feelings on the matter.

"I feel up to it," Miyako replied, all questions immediately vanishing from her mind. "That looks delicious."

Cheered by the compliment, the young woman smiled in appreciation and nodded toward the armchairs near the fireplace. "If you'll have a seat, milady," she said, and Miyako immediately did so. It was not long before the plate of food was set before her and she devoured it eagerly, rejoicing at the taste of anything other than bland gruel.

The smell of food and the clank of utensils upon plates unsurprisingly woke Hawkmon, who climbed down from the bed, rubbing his eyes with one wing and blinking at the room around him. "Do I smell breakfast?" he wondered in disbelief.

"Mmm!" Miyako mumbled by way of reply, and swallowed. "Delicious breakfast, too," she reported, and tossed him a hot, buttered roll. Hawkmon took a moment to savor the pleasant aroma before he took a bite, and then he, too, gave a murmur of contentment.

The door opened at that moment, and a Floramon, apparently the partner of the maid who was already present, entered with another tray. She struggled with the door for a moment before her partner went and helped her, and then held out the food toward Hawkmon. "Hungry?" she questioned.

And so the second tray was set out for Hawkmon, who settled himself into the empty armchair and began immediately to devour his own breakfast. The maid busied herself with lighting a fire in the large fireplace, for it was a bit cold in the room despite the warm sun.

When Miyako had eaten enough to silence her most voracious hunger pangs, she took a long gulp of hot tea and sighed her contentment. She noted the fireplace, by now blazing with the beginnings of a fire, and watched as the maid got to her feet, task completed. Her previously forgotten questions returned to her mind then, and so she voiced them.

"Where am I?"

"You don't know?" Floramon questioned in surprise, but her partner was less astonished.

"That's right, she was asleep when she came here," she said gently. "Welcome to Ichijouji, milady."

***

The hallway was nearly empty at midday. In the silence, Sora found that her soft footsteps echoed off the tall walls and high ceilings. The quiet was eerie, but not unexpected, as nearly everyone in the palace would be occupied with other matters at this time of day.

Though taking the stairs had tired her, Sora thought to herself that she was doing quite well with managing pregnancy. There was no reason to suggest that anything might be wrong, and she had not experienced any significant increase in her worries that might be cause for concern. Even Jyou, who had a tendency to worry about even the slightest illness, appeared relaxed and unconcerned about matters.

Sora paused in front of a particular door, in front of which stood a tall, muscular man dressed in a crisply pressed uniform. At his waist he wore a sheath which undoubtedly held a very sharp sword. Seeing her, he bowed quickly and stepped aside, allowing her entrance.

Sora took a deep breath and then tapped upon the door. After waiting a moment and receiving no answer, she knocked again, a little harder this time, and called out, "Hikari?"

"Come in!" came the response, muffled through the walls, and so Sora pushed open the door and stepped into the room.

Hikari's bedroom was large, and usually clean, a stark contrast to her brother's more cluttered style. It was simply furnished, with a single bookshelf, several cabinets for storage, and a few armchairs. The walls were a crisp clean white, so that upon entrance on a sunny day one might inadvertently be blinded if not prepared. The bed was covered with pale pink sheets and blankets, and many pillows.

Tailmon was currently laying upon the edge of the bed, though not in her usual curled-up, napping position. Instead, she was lying upon her back, studying the ceiling. At the sound of the door opening, she turned her head toward it, and her big blue eyes observed Sora as she shut the door behind her.

There was no immediate sign of Hikari, and so Sora took a few slow steps into the room, a vaguely confused expression upon her face. She stepped around an armchair which was in her way, and noted with some surprise that a tall pile of books was set upon the floor. A few steps further, another pile towered.

"Doing some reading?" Sora called out to the apparently empty room.

Hikari finally appeared from behind the bed, under which she had apparently been rummaging for something. "Yes," she answered. "I asked Mimi if she could bring me some, and Takeru, too. I figured that I might as well do something constructive with my time."

Sora took a step forward, and took the topmost book from the nearest pile. "_Proper Conduct_?" she questioned, reading the title. It was certainly not what she had expected to find. Opening the book, Sora scanned over a page at random, and saw, as expected from the title, that it was a book filled with etiquette rules. "Why are you reading this?"

Hikari was straightening her skirts, which had become rather crumpled during her search. "It seems that I have much to learn," she said, brushing away at some imaginary bit of dust. "I figured that books might be a place to start."

"To learn about etiquette?" Sora wondered. She took the next book from the pile, and read the title, _A Woman's Guide to Marriage_. "Or something else?"

It might have been her imagination, Sora thought, but it looked for a moment as though Hikari blushed slightly. She was certainly spending a bit more time than appeared necessary in tidying her clothes. "Yes, well, I don't really know very much, you know, and I don't want to make a fool of myself."

Sora wasn't quite sure what to make of this, and so she sat down in the armchair she had previously bypassed and opened the latest book to a random page. She read quietly for a moment and then shut the volume once more. "Hikari…."

Hikari sat down upon the bed. "I suppose it didn't occur to me, to ask. I suppose it probably should have. I suppose I should have thought about that sort of thing before I made a decision." She sighed. "I've made him angry, and I didn't even know it."

Sora was quiet a long moment, thinking her own thoughts. "What did Taichi say to you?" she wondered.

A shrug was the answer. "Nothing much," Hikari said. "Only that I should tell…that I should _ask_ before I decide to travel across the continent, and that maybe I shouldn't do it at a moment's notice."

"You should _ask_?" Sora echoed, raising one eyebrow.

"He's right," Hikari went on. "Especially now, that things are so dangerous. I hadn't thought of it, I don't know why."

"What does this have to do with," Sora paused, reading the title of the next book, "_The Manners of a Lady?_"

"I was thinking," Hikari replied, "that if I didn't know that I was supposed to ask before teleporting across the kingdom, then there was probably a lot of other things that I didn't know…about…."

"Well," Sora said after a moment, "that's probably true." She sighed, thinking to herself that maybe she ought to have a talk with her husband. "I don't think you need to worry so much about it, though."

"You don't?"

Sora shook her head. "No. Hikari, you've always been…you've never done anything that's _wrong_, in terms of _Proper Conduct_. You were raised to know the right way to act, and I can't imagine that you would do anything that would make your future husband terribly upset."

This seemed to have the effect of cheering her up a bit, and so Sora continued. "Granted, disappearing unexpectedly in the middle of the night was probably not something that would be considered wise, but nor do I think it would be covered in any of those books." She gestured toward the pile with a dismissive wave.

"All you need to keep in mind is consideration. Disappearing in the middle of the night isn't a good idea, _not_ because it's bad etiquette, but because it worries people. It scares people. It probably scared Taichi, and that's probably why he yelled."

"I know," Hikari answered. "If I had asked, he wouldn't have allowed it, and I _had_ to go. I…I can't explain."

Sora shook her head. "It's all right. I know, and Taichi knows, that you wouldn't have gone if it wasn't a necessity." She sighed. "Maybe, though, next time, you should leave a note or something."

***

The sun was slowly sinking over the fields. The workers returning were black shadows, silhouetted against the colorful sunset. A cool spring breeze heralded the night, dancing over grasses, carrying leaves and blossoms, slipping through open windows with a chill that sent shivers down the spines of those who had remained indoors.

Shijo pulled the window of the room shut and turned back inside the room to search for fresh candles, as the ones present were nearly finished. He found a box within a cabinet, and lit several of the tall sticks of wax, brightening the small room. As it was beginning to get cold, he thought he might light a fire.

Daisuke had been studying books for most of the day, forcing his usually more active personality into a chair in his father's small, cramped office, nose half-buried in thick volumes of histories and family trees. The records went back centuries, but not, it seemed, far enough to recall the ancestor wizard who had sworn his loyalty to the First King.

He sat up now, yawning, and stretched his arms over his head. Though he'd learned nothing further about his current dilemma, he now knew more about his family's history than he'd ever really wanted to know. Noting the dimness of the room, he paused, mid-yawn, and turned toward the window. "Sundown already?" he wondered, and climbed down from the stool he'd been sitting on.

Shijo, bent over the fireplace, looked up from his task in time to see the door close.

***

The evening air was cool, the breeze strong. Daisuke immediately wondered if he should have brought a jacket, or at least a sweater. As it was rapidly becoming dark, he also thought a lantern might have been a wise idea. V-mon, yawning, followed after him, grumbling loudly.

"It can't wait until he comes inside?" he demanded. "It's cold out here!"

"So wait for me inside," Daisuke replied. "I'm not going far, and it won't take long."

V-mon didn't take this advice, but nor did he give a reason. Instead, he trailed after his partner, grumbling under his breath. Daisuke chose to ignore these mutterings.

The crowd of workers had by this point reached the edge of the gardens, and they filed past. Some of them were yawning as they walked, tired from a long day in the fields, and others were loudly talking amongst themselves, discussing plans for the evening. A few of them called greetings toward Daisuke, who waved back absently. He was searching for his father.

Lord Motomiya was near the end of the line, carrying a roll of papers under his arm. He would have liked to have read them as he walked, but it was too dark for that. Instead, he was discussing something with the men who walked nearest him, his foremen in the fields.

He was dressed much like his workers, in dirt-dusted pants and a plain shirt, a jacket pulled on for warmth in the cool evening air. At first glance, his status as the leader of these men was not quite clear. After a bit of observation, however, it would become more obvious. Not only did he carry himself with more authority and confidence than the others, but the men around him also seemed to give him more respect.

Daisuke paused a short distance from the crowd and stuffed his hands into his pockets, waiting. Noting his presence, the men who had been surrounding Lord Motomiya finished up their conversations and went on ahead, the digimon going with them, so that before long Daisuke, his father, and V-mon were alone at the edge of the gardens.

"I know what you're going to say," Lord Motomiya began before his son could open his mouth. "I'm not going."

Daisuke sighed and absently shuffled his feet.

"I'm not going to run and hide, begging the King for shelter, leaving the fields, leaving the people."

"It wouldn't be begging," Daisuke disagreed. "He's _offered_. He's taken Jun, it wouldn't be as though _you'd_ be taking up that much more space."

"My responsibility is to this land, to these people." He waved one hand, gesturing toward the fields behind him, and to the village, which could dimly be seen thanks to lights within the houses. "If I leave, and whoever this person is…."

"Otonashi," Daisuke supplied.

"Otonashi," his father repeated, testing the name. "If he attacks the village, the house, while I'm gone? What good am I? My duty, and _yours_, is to this place, these people. If I'm taking shelter in the palace, then the entire village will come with me."

This was not possible, as even the palace was not large enough to accommodate the total population of the village. Daisuke knew this, and knew that his father knew this, so he didn't comment upon it.

"And if you're killed, who will protect them then?" he wondered instead.

"If I'm killed," Lord Motomiya repeated thoughtfully. He sighed. "Then I suppose it'll be your responsibility, won't it?"

Daisuke frowned, an expression which was only barely visible in the dimming light. Though Motomiya – the land and the village – had always been in the back of his mind, he thought now, as he had for some time, that he did not really wish to have the job.

"Jun would say that is a horrible idea," he noted.

"Well then, let it be her responsibility," his father replied with a light shrug. "Say all the words you know, but I'm not leaving here." He took a few steps toward the house. Daisuke watched him for a moment.

"You won't change your mind?" he called after then, and Lord Motomiya paused in his steps and turned back.

"I won't," he replied.

A sudden burst of wind blew at that precise moment, scattering dirt and grass into the air. Daisuke turned his head and raised one arm to shield his eyes from the dust, and then lowered it when the gust faded.

The metal of a sword's blade glinted in the light of the setting sun, almost glowing orange fire. It was in the space directly in front of his eyes, and he took an instinctive step backward at the sight of it. Another blade came and met the first, crossing the space in front of Daisuke. Each was held by a man dressed in black.

Daisuke looked past the swords in time to hear the sound of blade meeting flesh, and a quiet grunt of pain. In the dimming light, he could see the blood, dark red, dripping on to the ground in a puddle. A moment later, his father's body fell forward onto the ground, a lifeless hunk of flesh. Behind him stood another swordsman, this one dressed in a long white coat tied around his waist with a long white belt.

Job completed, the swordsman pulled the tip of his sword from the body of the Lord of Motomiya. It was stained red from the blood, and he wiped it cleanly on the grass before he sheathed it once more in the carrier upon his back.

Distantly, Daisuke was aware of a shouting noise coming from nearer to the house. He supposed that his father's partner had spontaneously deleted, startling anyone who had been standing nearby. Mostly, however, he was aware of the pounding of his own heartbeat in his ears. His legs felt suddenly numb and unsteady, and he realized then that he was shaking. He took a step forward, more to assure himself that he could move than anything.

"Father?" he questioned, but it was too late. He was gone, and there could be no doubt of that. He forced his eyes away from the body, toward the swordsman, who was looking directly toward Daisuke.

His eyes were cold, as though the death had meant nothing to him. He was neither pleased nor upset about it. A gentle breeze caused the long braid of his hair to dance in the wind, and the hem of his coat to briefly billow behind him.

"Are you ready?" the swordsman questioned.

His words had the effect of a bucket of cold water splashed upon the face. Daisuke took another step forward, ignoring the swords blocking him. "What do you want?" he demanded. "If it's me, then kill _me_, and end this."

A faint smile appeared upon the face of the swordsman now, as though this were a command he had been waiting for. In the empty space around them, a handful more of swordsmen appeared. The two already present sheathed their weapons, waiting for some unspoken signal.

V-mon took a step forward, looking up toward his partner. "Daisuke, let me do it!" he urged. "Let me…."

"No," came the immediate answer, surprising the digimon. "Let them kill me. Then it'll end." He looked toward the leader. "Right? Once I'm dead, there's no reason to harm anyone else. My sister will be safe, Hikari will be safe, Ken will be safe, all these people will be safe."

The swordsman frowned for a long moment, then nodded once, apparently in agreement. Daisuke breathed a sigh of relief. His eyes once more briefly strayed toward his father, lifeless upon the ground.

"Daisuke!" V-mon disagreed, eyes wide.

"I promised I would protect everyone," Daisuke replied. "I told Hikari I could keep her safe, I told Jun. This will make sure of it."

"But…," V-mon began. "But…."

"Go ahead," Daisuke told the swordsman.

He nodded once, and then drew not his sword but a long, sharp dagger from his belt. The blade of it glinted in the dim light, and Daisuke saw it flash briefly before he felt a sharp pain somewhere in the pit of his stomach.

His legs lost their ability to hold him up; they collapsed beneath him. His vision became blurry, and the world spun. His heart was beating loudly in his ears, which were buzzing. Every sound seemed to echo, everything he saw melted into something else, until it was all one giant blur, and then he saw nothing.

***

Believe it or not, we are approaching the end. Thanks for reading this far.


	31. Chibimon Arrives

**The Ancient Curse**

**Part Thirty-One**: Chibimon Arrives

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all related characters, money, etc, does not belong to me. Plot does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy

***

Miyako had passed the day with little activity. Someone, perhaps Lady Ichijouji, had decided that she needed rest, and ordered the servants to see to her every need and not to tire her any further. Thus, her attempts to leave the room were tactfully but firmly deterred.

Instead, she had been given clean clothes, a beautiful dress which felt as though it had been made for her. The fabric was a silky smooth material so light that it felt almost as though it was floating above her skin. It was a shade of dark blue that she was finding was quite common here, not only for her clothes and the clothes of the maids, but also for the draperies and the linens.

After a plentiful breakfast, however, Miyako had been ordered to rest, and left alone. When she pushed open the doors, thinking she might venture at least into the hallways, she saw that two men had been stationed outside, apparently ordered to see not only to her safety, but also that she was not disturbed. Despite her attempts, they had not been willing to allow her to leave the room.

And so she had resigned herself to this luxurious imprisonment, and settled herself upon the window seat. A small garden was visible beside the window, and Miyako spent several hours watching the flowers drift in the breeze, occasionally visited by insects and butterflies. There was no further sign of people.

After far more time than seemed bearable, a mid-day meal was served, somewhat lighter than the breakfast, and she was once again left to herself. Miyako attempted several times to summon a bit of magic and found that she was now capable of producing a bit of a spark when she concentrated quite intently. It was hardly enough to start a fire, though, and certainly not enough to be of any use should a crowd of magical swordsmen wish to attack.

She had never so much longed to feel the wind in her hair, to cast the spell which would produce such a fierce gale as to send small digimon flying away, or to fly upon her partner through the skies at a fierce and steady speed. This room, with its still air and lack of magic, left her feeling quite ordinary and bored. Finally, she had fallen to sleep, mostly from lack of anything else to do.

Sometime around sunset, Miyako was awakened by the door opening, and a small crowd of maids entering. Within moments, they had spruced her up (which was saying something, as she had not felt inelegant before) and were ushering her down the hall. Another set of double doors opened, and Miyako found herself now within a rather grand and elegant dining room.

The table was easily large enough to hold several dozen people, yet there were only three places set, and no one had yet sat down. Near the opposite end of the table stood a woman. She was dressed not in the same dark blue as the maids, but in an elegant gown of a paler shade, trimmed with lavender.

Miyako had met Lady Ichijouji only a few times before, several years previously. She did not recall that the woman had looked quite so elegant at that time, but this occasion was apparently different. After a brief stunned silence, Miyako recalled the manners which her mother had so long ago drilled into her head, and sank into her best curtsy.

"Milady, I am very grateful for your hospitality."

"I am glad to give it," Lady Ichijouji replied. "And I am glad to see that you are far better now than you appeared when you first arrived on my doorstep."

"I feel much better," Miyako answered honestly. Following the lead of her hostess, she sat down in the nearest seat in which a place had been set.

"I am glad to hear that," Lady Ichijouji said. Noting that Miyako's gaze had briefly drifted toward the third place setting, she went on. "Ken will, I am glad to say, join us for dinner, but he told me that he might be a bit late tonight, and that we should start without him."

Miyako would have much liked to ask what it was he was doing, and if he was all right, and perhaps a thousand other questions, but she held her tongue and instead said only, "I am glad to hear _that_."

***

The sun had long since set, and the air had grown colder. Hikari had lit a fire in the fireplace and eaten the meal that had been brought to her. When she was finished, she made certain all her windows and doors were shut, lit several candles, and crawled into her bed, which was the warmest place in the room, with a book.

Despite Sora's advice, she thought it would do no harm to continue in her pursuit of knowledge, and so she curled up with the volume entitled _The Manners of a Lady. _The first chapter seemed to be mostly on how to deal with the process of courtship, which led Hikari to the curious reflection that she had somehow managed to become engaged without following any of the processes described.

She was flipping through the pages, deciding to skip ahead to the next chapter, in hopes that it would pertain more to her situation, when Tailmon abruptly lifted her head and raised her ears. The feline digimon had been curled up a short distance from her partner, half-buried beneath the blankets, and now she turned her head toward the foot of the bed.

The action alerted Hikari, who had learned to be sensitive to her partner's sensitivities, and both of them turned in time to see that a man was standing at the foot of the bed.

The doors and windows were all shut; there had been no sound indicating that one had been opened recently, but there he was. His hair, long and dark, trailed behind him in a long braid. His coat was a bright white that even now was untarnished from dirt or blood, tied around his waist with a belt. Tailmon narrowed her eyes and got to her feet. Hikari slid backwards upon the bed, toward the pillows behind her.

He said nothing, but took a few steps forward so that he was standing at the edge of the bed. Tailmon also took a few steps forward so that she was between her partner and this unnamed visitor. Her tail was held aloft, her ears flattened back, her eyes narrowed. The man leaned forward, stretching out his arms, which held something small and blue.

Immediately, Tailmon altered her position. Her ears lifted, as though she had heard something interesting, and her eyes grew wide. The visitor set the thing he had been holding down upon the edge of the bed, and then stepped back a few steps. Tailmon crossed the space between herself and the edge, and gasped out a single word, "Chibimon!"

"Chibimon?" Hikari echoed, and leaned forward. She could see the small blue digimon now. He did not appear injured, but nor did he appear to be well. His eyes were shut, his coloring quite pale, and it did not seem as though he was merely sleeping. "What…?"

"Come morning," the visitor said, his voice quiet but serious in the silence, "he will be gone."

With that, he vanished, the space he had once stood in now vacant. Hikari stared at it a moment longer, wondering at his words, her mind spinning over possibilities, none of which were pleasant. Tailmon was gently shaking the blue digimon, calling his name, but Chibimon didn't seem capable of waking. Finally, Tailmon turned toward her partner, blue eyes wide.

Hikari wasted no further time with thoughts, or with speculations upon the matter. She pushed aside the blankets she had been covered with and climbed out of bed. She threw a robe on over her shoulders, and slipped her feet into nearby slippers, then lifted Chibimon into her arms. He did not stir at the movement, nor make any sound to show he was aware of it.

"Can they help him?" Tailmon wondered, jumping down from the bed to follow after her partner. "Takeru, do you suppose he could…?"

"I don't know," Hikari replied. "I hope so."

She pulled open the door and found the back of the guard who had unluckily drawn the night shift. He turned at the sound of the door and folded his arms across his chest, a stern expression upon his face. "I've orders, your highness."

Hikari frowned back at him with an equally stern expression. "This is an exceptional situation," she replied, holding out her arms to show him Chibimon, visibly weakened. "I need to see my brother, or he'll die."

The threat of death, and the presence of Chibimon, who had not gotten past the guard but was there nonetheless, apparently combined to convince him. He sighed, and took a step backward. "Very well," he replied, "but I shall go with you."

This was far easier than Hikari had expected, and so she did not object, but allowed the guard to trail after her down the hall for some time until he caught up to her somewhat quicker pace. Though the King's bedroom was not far down the hall, Hikari was not willing to waste further time.

She did not hesitate at the door, but knocked firmly three times and then pushed it open without waiting for an answer, stepped inside, and immediately dropped down to the floor.

"Hikari?" Sora's voice said into the silence that followed. There was a brief creaking of mattress springs as she sat up a little straighter.

"What's happened?" Taichi questioned. Hikari found herself relieved that there was more confusion and concern in his voice than anger.

Without speaking, she held her arms out, allowing them to see what she held. Silence followed this action, which she let hang a few moments before she spoke. "I don't know."

She did not take her eyes from the floor even now, but focused upon a single spot upon the carpet a short distance away. "A swordsman appeared a few minutes ago," she went on. "He said that…he'll be gone, come morning."

It surprised her that her voice broke in the middle of this report, and surprised her even more when she felt her eyes grow damp. Her mind, which she had not permitted to think of possibilities before, now suddenly opened to them all. If Chibimon was to vanish at dawn, it would be because….

"The wizard," Taichi said, his voice interrupting his sister's morose train of thoughts. "Koushiro. Bring him here."

Footsteps trailed away from the door at that moment, the guard who had followed Hikari hurrying to do exactly that. Before long, they had faded into the distance.

Without even thinking of it, Hikari pulled Chibimon closer to her, so that she was holding him in the same way that one might hold a baby. He was alive, he was present, but it might only be temporary.

"We'll need Takeru, as well," Taichi said then, and took a few steps toward the door. He did not quite reach it, however, before Sora's voice interrupted him.

"I'll go," she said, and her footsteps also crossed the room to meet his. He apparently hesitated a moment, for she said, "Stay with your sister."

The door shut quietly behind her as she left.

***

"I'm fine," Miyako said, shaking her head. "You're not going alone."

She was standing in the same bedroom she had spent the day in, and she was quite unwilling to spend any further time within these walls, pampered and tended to while she rested. Resting had done nothing to return her magic so far, and resting would do nothing in the future, she was sure of it.

Ken was standing a short distance away. He was frowning quite steadily in her direction, as though by simply communicating his displeasure with the situation he might convince her otherwise. "You're hurt," he said.

"I'm not," she replied immediately. "I feel fine. I'm not in any pain, I'm not sick. Hawkmon," she gestured toward her partner, "is perfectly capable of flying."

"True, true," Hawkmon agreed, flexing one wing in demonstration of his strength. "Quite capable of taking to the skies."

"It's safer here," Ken said. "Stay here." He turned toward the door and took a few steps toward it.

"I'm not obliged to take orders from you, you know," Miyako said then, a sharp burst of words which made him pause mid-step and turn back to face her. "I'm not…you can't hold me here against my will."

"I have no intention of…," he began, but she interrupted.

"Don't you? You want me to stay here. You're willing to order a dozen armed men to patrol the halls and the gardens and see to it that I stay in this room. As I don't want to be here, that's against my will." She paused a moment, and when he didn't speak, she went on.

"All the while, you're forgetting that _I'm_ not the one in danger."

"Not in danger?" Ken echoed. "You nearly _died_!"

His voice, a bit louder than either expected, had the effect of silencing Miyako. Her eyes grew wide, her mouth opened, as though she was going to speak, but no sounds came out.

"You nearly died," Ken said again, this time in a more civilized tone of voice. He sighed heavily. "You were…you didn't _see _yourself. They almost killed you. I'm not going to give them a second chance to try."

Miyako said nothing. She took a few steps away and sat down in the nearest armchair. For a long moment, she was still, looking at her hands, and blinking a bit more than usual.

"I can't guarantee your safety here," Ken went on after a moment, speaking more quietly now, "but it's far better than if you travel back to Motomiya. There's at least _some_ magical protection here, and…." He trailed off.

Another moment of silence passed. Miyako took a deep breath.

"That's it, then," she said quietly. "I'm finished."

"Finished?" Ken echoed, for this was a rather dramatic and morbid sort of word.

"Without magic," Miyako went on, still speaking quietly. "I'm of no use any longer." She paused and took a deep breath.

"That's not true," Ken disagreed immediately, and she raised her head now to look at him.

"Isn't it?" she wondered. "I've lost all ability to protect myself, to protect you. I can't cast spells. I can't light a fire, I can't raise a shield, I can't direct the wind, I can't…." Her voice suddenly broke, and she looked toward the floor again. "I can't do anything."

There were tears upon her cheeks now, dampness spilling from her eyes. She lifted her hands and rubbed at her eyes. For a long moment, she forced herself to breathe steadily, to halt the tears, at least for the time being.

"Go without me," she said, and her voice was quiet but steady. "Go ahead. I'll stay here, out of danger."

Ken had not moved in all this time, but had simply stood still, staring at her with wide eyes. Though he had guessed that her fading magic would be upsetting to her, he had not clearly thought out quite how upsetting it would be, and he had not ever really seen her so upset before. He could not recall ever having seen her cry.

He took a few steps forward and knelt on the ground before her chair. "It's not true," he said again. Miyako rubbed at her eyes briefly with one hand. As he was now occupying the space on the floor she had been focusing upon, she lifted her head and stared instead at a random spot on the wall.

"You're still Chosen," Ken went on. "You're not defenseless."

"As long as I've got a dozen guards around me," Miyako finished, and snorted in disbelief. "Go on. I'll wait here, I suppose, for them to bring your body home." When he stared at her for a moment, she added, "Well, you don't think you can escape unscathed, do you? You're his best friend. Practically his brother. If I'm going to nearly die, then you're probably going to _actually_ die."

She had apparently switched from feeling sorry for herself to a strange sort of morbid humor. Though the thought of his imminent death might not ordinarily have cheered him, Ken found that Miyako's apparently improving spirits did so. Morbid sarcasm was, after all, better than tears.

"If we fly," Wormmon said then, from the place near the door where he had been standing all this time, "upon Aquilamon, it will be a bit more comfortable." He paused in thought a moment, and then added, "and faster."

Ken sighed, feeling as though he was outnumbered, and got to his feet. "Fine then," he said, "come with me."

***

Hikari had not moved since she had arrived. In the silence of the empty bedroom, Taichi thought that he could hear her sniffling.

He waited a moment, to see if she would do anything, or say anything, and then he knelt down on the floor beside her. Even now, she did not lift her head to look at him or change positions in any way, but remained still. She was aware of his presence, though, for she was even now attempting to halt the tears.

"We'll fix this," Taichi said, and he noticed then Tailmon for the first time. She was standing beside her partner, as she surely had been since arriving, though he had not seen her before. Her blue eyes were staring up at him, challenging him.

Hikari nodded and sniffled quietly. She rubbed at her eyes with her hand. "It's my fault," she mumbled softly.

_Actually_, Taichi thought glumly. _It's my fault_. He did not speak this, however, but reached out and placed one hand upon his sister's shoulder. Now, finally she looked up at him, rubbing one eye with her hand, wiping away the tears that had escaped.

"It's not your fault," he said instead. "We'll fix this. It'll be all right."

Hikari nodded silently, blinking a few times. She took a deep breath and nodded again.

"Come on," Taichi said then, and took her free hand in his own. He got to his feet, pulling her up after him.

The door opened then, and the wizard Koushiro entered. He was unsurprisingly not dressed for sleep, but his usual clothes were rumpled, as he had likely fallen to sleep briefly at his books. "Something has happened?" he guessed, absently straightening his collar as he spoke.

Taichi nodded. "Find Daisuke," he said. "I assume that he is in Motomiya, but I want to make certain. Can you do that?"

Now the wizard nodded, briefly glancing toward Hikari and undoubtedly noting the small blue digimon in her arms. "So long as no magic interferes," he replied. "Give me a few minutes."

"We'll need whatever information you can find out," Taichi replied. Before anything further could be said, the door opened once more.

Takeru, dressed as the rest of them were in his night clothes, a robe thrown over his shoulders but no slippers upon his bare feet (he had not thought to find them before he'd left), entered the room, Sora a few steps behind. As she had told him most of the situation on the journey there, he wasted no time with questions, but crossed to Hikari immediately upon entering.

"Can you do anything?" Tailmon demanded even before he had reached his destination.

Takeru was wavering between a concerned frown and a reassuring smile. "I'll try," he replied, and held out his hands so that Hikari could pass Chibimon to him. Once she had done so, she took a step backward and sat down upon the edge of the bed as though all the energy had gone from her with that motion.

Koushiro was quiet, having settled himself into an armchair and fallen into some kind of trance almost immediately. To magical sight, he would have appeared to be glowing slightly as magical eddies of information flowed to and from him. To all present, however, he looked as though he was simply sitting quietly with his eyes shut, a concentrated, thoughtful frown on his face.

Takeru had shut his eyes as soon as the small digimon had come into his hands, and he, too, remained silent for a few moments. For a little while, all was quiet in the room as spells and magic were worked.

Suddenly, Takeru opened his eyes and let out a small gasp of breath. His eyes opened wide for a moment, as though he was in sort of pain, and he bent over slightly. Sora, standing nearest to him, grabbed on to his shoulder and led him to the nearest unoccupied armchair.

"Are you all right?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Yeah," he replied after a moment. He blinked a few times, took a deep breath, and then exhaled. He looked toward Hikari and then Taichi, both of whom were understandably watching him with concern. "We need to hurry."

Hikari shut her eyes briefly, a look of pain momentarily passing over her face. Taichi frowned more severely than he had been. "How soon can you leave?" he asked. "Can you manage to teleport, and then heal?"

"If I have to," Takeru answered immediately, "I can do it." He stood up once more, and crossed the room, returning the small digimon to Hikari's arms.

The King nodded thoughtfully. "Get dressed and ready," he said then, "and come back here."

They watched as he left, taking quick, hurried steps. Taichi glanced toward Hikari, who was again holding Chibimon in her arms, seeing little of the room around her. He glanced then toward Sora, who returned this gaze with a slight frown. Sighing, he nodded briefly toward her, and she nodded in response, a slight smile appearing.

Sora stepped forward, gently placing a hand upon Hikari's shoulder, getting her attention. "Come on, now," she said softly. "Let's get dressed."

Hikari looked up, then glanced briefly toward Taichi, who had turned away from the scene with a thoughtful frown, as though he was completely unaware of all that was transpiring within the bedroom. He appeared to be studying a spot on the wall with some seriousness.

No sooner had they left than Koushiro opened his eyes and got to his feet. "He's there, as you thought," he reported. "I don't sense any particularly strong magic around that general area, so there's nothing to interfere with teleportation, or with healing."

Taichi nodded. "That's good news, at least," he noted with a sigh.


	32. Rescue

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Thirty Two: **Rescue**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_ (characters, money, profits, merchandise, rights, etc) does not belong to me. Plot, however, does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy

***

The night air was chilly but not terribly cold, and Miyako thought that the feel of it, rushing past her ears, blowing through her hair, was the most wonderful thing she had felt in quite some time. The stars overhead were bright shining dots against the black night sky, the half-moon brilliant in the darkness.

It was the first time, she realized, that she had felt anything close to _happy_ since before they had gone to see the Ogremon. Since then, there had been one thing after another to worry her, and little to enjoy. Even now, she thought, it wasn't fair of her to be feeling so spectacularly _free_ while Hikari was probably still lying in a bed, teetering upon the edge of death.

Although, Miyako suddenly thought, it had been quite some time; perhaps the spell had managed to be broken since then. She pushed this optimistic idea from her mind nearly as soon as it had appeared, however, as it wasn't likely.

Ichijouji was not far from Motomiya, even if one traveled along the roads. Flying, it was a quick journey. In daytime, it would have been quite possible to see the village from some distance away. In the night, however, it was not quite so easy to determine their destination, and Miyako wondered if it had actually been a wise idea not to wait until morning.

When Ken had come to tell her his plans to travel to Motomiya, she had been more concerned with his plans to leave her behind than his desire to leave long before dawn. Once she had convinced him otherwise, she was so taken with the idea of flying once more that she had not objected. Now though, traveling in the darkness, she wondered why he had insisted upon hurrying.

"Do you see that?" Ken asked then, interrupting her thoughts and absent musing with words spoken aloud. With the sound of the air rushing by, he had to lean in and speak directly into her ear in order to be understood. The sound startled her, and she turned slightly, noting his arm, pointing out to one side.

Miyako turned, and saw the flicker of lights in the distance. "I do," she said immediately. "I can't tell what it is…."

"It looks like a fire," Aquilamon noted. "Should I head toward it?"

"Yes," Ken answered without waiting for any other discussion, and the flying digimon immediately turned. Miyako held tightly to her partner's feathers as they turned into the wind, tilting slightly to one side. At the same time, she felt Ken's arm tighten around her waist, as though he was fearful she might fall off.

Had it been easier to converse, she might have informed him that she was quite capable of flying without falling off, and she had done so quite a few times in the past. It would have required turning back and shouting into his ear, however, and so Miyako reflected that it might not be worth the effort.

As they grew closer to the flickering lights they had seen from far off, however, Miyako forgot any arguments she might have had with him – or with anyone else, for that matter. The lights were indeed a fire, and they seemed to be stretching quite high in the sky, nearly covering a rather large building which had been built at the top of a hill.

Aquilamon paused, hovering in mid-air, stunned by the sight. They could hear the sound of shouting below, as the building's occupants undoubtedly labored to halt the fire's progress. They could hear the crackling of the flames as they devoured more of the structure.

"What's happened?" Ken wondered. His voice was quiet, but audible. "How - ?"

They were hovering over Motomiya, over the house atop the hill in which they had left Hikari, Daisuke, and Takeru many days earlier. It was now completely aflame. Slowly, Aquilamon circled the building, so that they could clearly see fire leaping from the windows, and people on the ground running about frantically, carrying buckets of water in what was apparently a losing battle.

"If I had enough magic," Miyako said quietly, but didn't finish the sentence.

"There!" Ken said suddenly, halting her self-loathing train of thoughts before it could begin. He stretched out one arm, pointing toward one section of the building, a flat section of roof that topped one of several round towers at each corner of the building. Miyako squinted through the smoke and flames and could see a shadow of a figure within. "Go there!"

Aquilamon didn't hesitate, but immediately quickened his speed. A short distance from the rooftop in question, he paused and hovered, careful to stay out of the range of the fire. Ken shifted his weight, apparently intending to leap to the rooftop across the distance, but Miyako grabbed hold of his arm.

"You can't, it's too far!" she told him. "How will you get back?"

"I can't leave him there!" he returned.

"And if you die trying to save him, what good will that do?" she demanded.

There was no good response to that, but Ken spent a few minutes trying to think of one. In the moment of silence, Wormmon quietly spoke up, "I could help."

This solution was so simple that Ken almost laughed in relief. "Of course you could," he agreed, nodding. "Let's go."

There was a bright white light in the sky for a few moments, and then the small green caterpillar was replaced with a much larger bug digimon. While Miyako and Aquilamon hovered in the air, waiting, Ken and his evolved partner flew through the flames and landed upon the rooftop.

Miyako was squeezing her partner's feathers in nervous frustration. Had her magic been effective, she could easily have dismissed the flames not only on this section of rooftop, but on the entirety of the house. There would be no need for Ken to risk his own life leaping through flames while she sat and waited, hoping for his safe return.

A few moments passed in which she could barely see anything through the smoke and the flames, and then she saw the shadow of Stingmon flying through the fire once more. He was carrying a body in his arms which was not Ken's, and which was apparently in terrible shape. Even in the dim light of the night, Miyako could see that it was Daisuke, and that he was very pale.

Stingmon hovered beside Aquilamon for a moment, setting the injured one upon the back of the bird digimon. Miyako moved to help him, and found that her hand made contact with something damp. She pulled it back and saw that it was stained from blood.

"He's bleeding," she realized in astonishment. "What do I…?"

"Ken says take him to the village. There might be someone there that can help," Stingmon replied. "We'll try to help stop the fire, and see if we can find V-mon."

"Or anyone else," Miyako finished grimly. She nodded her acknowledgement, glancing briefly back across the flames and smoke toward Ken, standing upon the rooftop, looking up toward her. "Be careful," she said to Stingmon, who nodded in response before he returned to his partner.

Aquilamon wasted no further time in speeding toward the village. Miyako managed somehow to hold on to the extra passenger and not fall from the sky at the same time. Already, she could feel that her hands and arms were covered in his blood, and she wondered, firstly, what was causing such bleeding, and secondly, how long it had been going on. Perhaps he might be beyond help?

As they flew in closer to the village, Aquilamon searched for a space in which to land. Though she was not expecting a response, Miyako was so concerned about the state of her injured passenger that she spoke to him nonetheless.

"Daisuke!" she shouted, almost in his ear, and was surprised to hear a distant, quiet moan in response. She regretted attempting to waken him almost immediately, for undoubtedly sleep would cause him less pain.

"Hold on tight," Aquilamon said then, and Miyako braced both herself and Daisuke for a landing upon soft grass near the edge of the river. When they had done so, Aquilamon squatted down low to the ground, attempting to make disembarking easier. Miyako slid down easily and then, by grabbing on to Daisuke under his arms, somehow managed to slide him down after her. In the bright light of her partner's de-evolution, she could see that he was half-covered with his own blood, and that she was as well.

"Lady Miyako!" a voice was calling from behind her, and she turned immediately to see two young boys hurrying across the grass, a woman behind them. The older was carrying a lantern in one arm. This was Maigo, a village boy who had been training to become a mage. He had been staying at the palace, but apparently had recently returned home.

"Is there a doctor somewhere in this village?" Miyako asked him, at the same time wondering if a doctor would be able to do any good. Though she would not have wished to test Takeru and his healing magic in such a way, her faith in magic was much more sturdy.

By now close enough to clearly see what it was she needed a doctor for, Maigo paused in his steps and shook his head blankly. "No, ma'am," he answered, eyes wide. "Only my mother."

His mother had followed him, and was but a few steps behind by now. She placed one hand upon her son's shoulder, and took the lantern he carried in her own hands. "Back to the house," she ordered, and then turned toward her other child, who was a few steps behind her. "Boil me some water, and find some bandages. You know what to do."

Maigo hesitated only briefly, then nodded, leading his brother back to the house immediately. He did not ask any questions, though Miyako saw them forming in his eyes, mirroring her own uncertainty.

"Can you help him?" she asked when the boys were out of range of hearing and the woman had sunk down into the grass. "It seems like…there's a lot of blood."

The boys' mother spent a few moments looking over her patient, holding the lantern at the best angle to see him clearly. It did not appear as though there were any wounds upon his arms, hands, or face, but most of his torso and parts of his legs were quite covered with the blood. She paused briefly to roll up her long sleeves, and then Miyako heard the sound of fabric ripping as she tore open the fabric of his shirt to clearly look at the wounds.

"Can you hold the light?" she questioned, and Miyako lifted the lantern so that it was easier to see. Even now, to her untrained eyes, it seemed as though the whole of it was simply a sea of blood, but the village woman reached in with both hands, feeling for the injuries that were invisible beyond the blood.

After some time, she leaned back upon her heels and sighed, wiping her soaked hands upon the grass. "It might be beyond my skill," she confessed, "but I'll do what I can. Let's get him into the house."

Miyako nodded, and once more grabbed Daisuke beneath his arms while the woman took hold of his legs. It was thankfully not a long distance to the house, but it was not an easy task, either. When they arrived, Miyako saw that a young girl was holding the door open for them, her eyes big and wide as she watched.

They carried him through the main room of the house and into a small room beyond. There was no bed here, only a mattress and some blankets upon the floor, and they set him down gently upon this. Maigo and his brother had already assembled a pile of clean bandages beside this, and a bucket of clean, boiled water as well.

"We ought to send word to the palace," Hawkmon said quietly, and his partner nodded.

Half rising to her feet, she questioned, "Is there a Piyomon in this village, at least, that might carry a message?"

Maigo nodded. "Down the road," he reported. "I'll go. What should I have them say?"

Miyako sat back down and thought for a brief moment. "Tell them Motomiya burns, and Daisuke is hurt…badly." She glanced toward her partner with a shrug. "That's the important part, right?"

He nodded in agreement. "To the point," he replied. "It'll be a few hours before they get the message, but maybe they can teleport someone here in time to be of help."

"Let's hope," she agreed, and looked toward the woman, who was already beginning to clean away the blood from the wounds, hoping to see better what was wrong.

The children had lit plenty of candles so that it was far easier to see here than it had been outside. A fire was steadily burning in the small fireplace in this tiny room, making the temperature quite comfortable.

After a few moments of mopping at blood, the children's mother looked up from her task. She mopped her forehead with the back of her hand, smearing a bit of blood across her face. "It's not so bad as it looked outside," she said optimistically, "but it's still not good."

"Can you help?" Miyako wondered. "Can you…," and she paused, briefly to collect her thoughts, "will he live?"

A serious frown was the answer, and then the woman glanced briefly skyward. "Heaven only knows that," she replied, and reached for a mostly-clean cloth, diving back into her work.

Miyako felt a shiver run down the back of her spine at that moment, as though a sudden chill had struck at that moment. Faintly, she could hear a sound in the distance, and then a sturdy pounding sound upon the outer door interrupted any further thoughts.

Though one of the children had already gone to answer it, Miyako curiously got to her feet and crossed the room, peering across the living space toward the entrance to the small house. The youngest child, a small girl who carried her Pyocomon partner in one arm, pulled open the door and stared out into the space.

A few voices on the other side spoke, and feeling as though she recognized one of them, Miyako stepped forward, skirting around the edge of the table so that she could see out the door. She was quite surprised to see Hikari and Takeru standing in the doorway, speaking to the girl, almost as surprised as they were to see her.

"Miyako!" Takeru said in astonishment, and took a step forward. The little girl in the doorway, seeing that they were acquainted, stepped aside, allowing him entrance. Hikari followed after him, and Miyako noted then the small blue digimon in her arms. Eyes traveled upward, and she saw that Hikari was looking at her with an expression of fear.

"He's in there," Miyako said in answer to the unspoken inquiry, pushing aside all of her own questions for the moment. She stepped back, and after a brief hesitation, a gathering of strength perhaps, both of them walked past her in to the tiny room beyond.

They both paused momentarily in the doorway, and then Takeru stepped forward, around Hikari. He walked around the injured Daisuke and knelt on the floor across from the woman. He stared for a moment, first at Daisuke, and then at the woman attempting to help him.

"What's happened?" he questioned of her, and she sighed heavily for a moment before reaching for a clean cloth and then thrusting it into what now appeared to be a gaping hole in his stomach. Within seconds, it, too, was sopping up the blood.

"It looks as though he's been stabbed, I think," she replied. "It feels to me as though something sharp – a knife, a sword, I don't know – went straight into his stomach, and then came straight out." She frowned, noting the now-soaked cloth, and pulled it out. "The blood doesn't want to stop coming."

Takeru nodded briefly and placed a hand upon her arm before she could reach for another cloth. She frowned in his direction, but said nothing as he shut his eyes and placed one hand upon the patient's forehead. The woman then glanced back over her shoulder toward the doorway.

"It's all right," Miyako said to her. "He's a healer – he knows healing magic." She seemed to visibly relax at this statement, and turned her eyes back toward Takeru.

For a moment, all eyes were upon Takeru, and then Miyako thought she could see a faint white light, though with all the candlelight it was difficult to tell for certain. He was frowning, his eyes squinted closed in concentration, his brow furrowing. Then the light seemed to glow a bit brighter, as though he was putting forth more effort.

Miyako heard a quiet sigh beside her, and glanced toward Hikari. She was still holding Chibimon in both her arms, as though he were a small baby, it seemed, and holding him tightly as though she might hold him in this world. Though a bit of the fear had left her eyes, they were still red-rimmed, and her cheeks were damp from fresh tears.

After a moment, Takeru sat back, looking quite a bit drained from the effort he had put forth. He shut his eyes briefly, and it seemed as though opening them again took quite a bit of effort. "I've done what I can," he said then, and his eyes moved from his patient toward Hikari, who had not yet moved from her spot in the doorway. Once more, he now shut his eyes, and then his body wavered, as though he might fall.

Miyako took a step forward, but before she could reach him, the woman who was this house's owner reached out, preventing him from falling forward on to Daisuke. Takeru blinked a few times, forcing his eyes open, and then sighed. "Need to…," he began.

"Sleep," the woman interrupted. "Come, I've a place you can rest. Can you walk a few steps?"

He mumbled something that sounded a bit like an affirmative answer. Miyako went to him now, took one of his arms in her hands while the woman took his other. Together, they hoisted him to his feet and steered him across the room.

"If he wakes," Takeru mumbled, "wake me."

"If you've had enough sleep," Miyako told him. "There's no point to killing yourself trying to help. You've probably used more magic in the last few minutes than many mages do in a year."

He mumbled something else affirmative, as though acknowledging this statement. "Sleep spell," he added, "should last a few hours."

They had walked through the center of the house by now, and entered into another small bedroom, this one with a few cots scattered about. Miyako followed the lead of their hostess, and led him to one of them. Carefully, they helped him to sit on the bed, and he fell backward almost immediately, his half-opened eyes falling to sleep. Patamon, who had been as always riding upon his partner's head, now flew to the edge of the cot and settled into sleep near his feet.

"Make sure," Takeru said as they left the room, and Miyako glanced back toward him briefly from the doorway. He didn't finish this sentence, however, for he had fallen to sleep in the middle of it.

"Will Daisuke be all right?" a voice questioned, and Miyako became aware then of the partner of their hostess, a wide-eyed Floramon, who had been peering around the edge of the doorway as they'd helped Takeru to bed. From behind this digimon, the three children were also waiting for an answer, their eyes wide, each one clutching his or her partner tightly.

"I think so," Miyako replied. Though she didn't quite feel up to optimism, she forced a smile which might suggest it. "Takeru," and she gestured toward the bedroom they had left him in, "is the best healer in the kingdom. I am sure that his magic will do its job quite well."

This seemed to relieve them all of their anxieties, and their mother began the process of ushering them all back to bed, which, after the excitement, was not an easy task. Miyako turned back toward the small bedroom and saw that Hikari had finally left the doorway and settled herself beside Daisuke.

He did look better, Miyako thought. A bit of color had returned to his face, and his breathing seemed to be steadier now than it had been. There was still plenty of blood splattered over him – and Miyako as well, for having helped to carry him into the house – but it was no longer freely spewing from his wounds. Indeed, there no longer seemed to be a gaping hole in the center of his stomach.

"You forgot to mention," Hikari said quietly, not looking up even as Miyako entered the room, "that Takeru is the _only_ healer in the kingdom."


	33. Healing Begins

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Thirty-three: **Healing Begins**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all money, merchandise, and glory, does not belong to me. Plot does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

***

Takeru opened his eyes to find a bit of sunlight poking through a crack in the ceiling and shining directly into his eyes. He shut them at once and rolled onto his side, feeling as though he had not slept anywhere close to enough time. Near his feet, he heard Patamon yawn and shift positions.

Realization dawned slowly. As Takeru slowly came awake his mind became aware that he was sleeping in an unfamiliar place and then, slowly, he remembered what had happened the evening before; being pulled from his bed in order to examine Chibimon, then teleporting himself and Hikari to this village, and then draining the rest of his strength with the most powerful healing spell he knew.

Even now, his eyes were reluctant to open, but Takeru forced them to do so and then made himself sit up. He blinked a few times, hoping to clear his vision, and then yawned widely, rubbing at his eyes with one hand. After a moment, he moved his legs to the side of the cot and then pushed himself up to his feet. Patamon mumbled something contentedly and rolled over again, apparently not interested in waking yet.

There was no door upon the room, only a cloth curtain separating it from the rest of the small house. Takeru pushed it aside and found himself in what appeared to be the kitchen and dining area. A fireplace was built into one wall, a large empty pot hanging over a few cold logs. A few small cabinets were attached to the walls and a table with several chairs sat in the center of the space. Several doorways led off this room, each blocked only with curtains. Only the path to the outside had an actual door upon it.

The room was empty, and apparently the house as well, for Takeru could hear no voices. He stood for a moment in the kitchen space and then, after a moment, headed for one of the doorways off of the kitchen.

Daisuke was still sleeping, lying as he had been the night before, on a small mattress upon the floor. A thin blanket was drawn over him to protect him from the chills of the night, and someone had gone to the trouble of cleaning most of the blood off of him, though that which had spilled upon the mattress and the floor still remained.

A short distance away, Hikari had curled into a ball and fallen to sleep beneath another blanket. Tailmon was a short distance away and had wrapped herself protectively around Chibimon. On the other side of the mattress, Miyako was sitting, leaning against the wall, frowning thoughtfully as though she were thinking seriously about some subject while Hawkmon slept a short distance away.

Seeing Takeru, she leaned forward, looking as though she intended to get up. "You're awake," she noted, "shouldn't you be…?"

He waved a dismissive hand in her direction, brushing aside her recommendations of rest, and knelt down on the floor. "I'm fine," he said in answer to her unfinished question, then shut his eyes and placed one hand upon Daisuke's forehead.

Miyako opened her mouth, intending to say something further, and then sighed. Who was she to give advice on magic? She, who had lost the magic she had? Surely a healer would know how much magic he was capable of using and would not exceed his limits. So she said nothing and instead leaned back once more against the wall.

After a moment, Takeru pulled back his hand, and Daisuke took in a sharp breath of air as he opened his eyes. Miyako leaned forward, and then crawled over to see better.

"I think you'll be all right now," Takeru said, "but take it easy."

His eyes were already beginning to fall shut again. Miyako reached out to steady him in case he fell back, but he only sat back and yawned widely, once more waving aside her offer to help.

Daisuke blinked a few times, eyes moving about the room as he took in his surroundings. "Where am I?" he wondered.

"In the village," Miyako answered, since Takeru was still in the middle of a very large yawn and as such was incapable of answering questions. "Ken and I…we found you on the roof of the house." She gestured vaguely in the general direction of that place as she spoke. "It was on fire, but Stingmon pulled you out, and I carried you here."

Takeru nodded, finally regaining the power to speak. "They sent Chibimon to Hikari," he went on, "so we knew something was wrong." He interrupted himself with another yawn.

"So they teleported immediately," Miyako filled in, having heard the story the night before when Hikari had explained their arrival, "and Takeru was able to heal you."

Takeru nodded. "It seems I've learned something useful," he noted.

Daisuke was frowning as he took in this information. "The house was on fire?" he wondered. "They set the house on fire?"

"We could see the flames from the air, quite a distance away," Miyako replied, nodding. "Ken stayed behind, he said he was going to try to help them stop it."

"But – there were people in there," Daisuke said, and was now beginning to sit up. "That wasn't…damn it."

"Don't get up, don't get up," Takeru scolded. "Didn't I tell you to rest?"

"We sent word to the palace," Miyako reported, "and so I'm sure that if the fire isn't out by now there will be help coming before long."

"And most of the village has gone to help with the firefighting," Hawkmon put in.

Daisuke sighed heavily and laid back down, as Takeru had ordered. He studied the ceiling overhead for a moment or two. For a few brief moments, there was silence.

Takeru yawned once more and rubbed at his eyes. "What happened, anyway?" he wondered.

"They weren't supposed to set the house on fire," Daisuke mumbled crossly, then sighed. He waited a moment and then said, quickly so as to get it over with, "They killed my father."

"They what?" Miyako echoed, although she had clearly heard the words and understood them.

"They…," Takeru echoed, and then shook his head. "I didn't think they would…." He sighed. "I knew they were _capable_ of murder," he admitted after a moment, recalling the carriage driver he had seen killed for no apparent reason. He shut his eyes as though doing so would push the image of the dead man and his blood from his mind.

"Why?" Miyako asked. "Why – why would they…?"

"Why have they done anything?" Daisuke replied.

"To…to hurt you?" she wondered. "But…isn't that?" She gestured back, toward the house once more, waving one arm. "There were dozens of people in there! Innocents!"

Daisuke sighed, nodded. "I thought that I could stop it," he said quietly, "but I suppose I was wrong."

"Stop it how?" Takeru wondered. "If the ultimate goal is simply to cause you pain, then the only way to stop it is…."

"…Is?" Miyako echoed, waiting for him to finish his thought. Takeru had, instead, fallen silent, eyes wide. He was staring at Daisuke with an expression of disbelief. "Is what?" Miyako demanded.

"You're absolutely insane!" Takeru said then, raising his voice so that it filled the small room, heedless of Hikari and the digimon who were still sleeping. He got to his feet, obviously rather upset about something.

"What choice did I have?" Daisuke asked him.

Takeru clenched both his fists tightly at his sides and frowned severely. "Plenty of choices!" he replied.

Daisuke didn't answer immediately, but nor did he meet the sharp gaze Takeru was casting in his direction. Apparently frustrated, Takeru grumbled a wordless mumble of frustration, and left the room, pushing aside the curtain, which flew aside and then fluttered back to its usual position.

Miyako watched him go, feeling as though she had clearly missed something of importance in the argument, for she had no idea what it was about. She stared at the curtain until it stopped moving.

"Miyako," Daisuke said then, and she turned back toward him to see that he was looking toward Hikari and the digimon, who despite the yelling appeared to still be sleeping.

"Do you think, when you have a chance, you could take Hikari back home? To the palace, I mean?"

Miyako stared at him for a long moment. "Me?" she echoed.

"Teleport her, I mean," he clarified. "It's the safest way to travel…the fastest. She needs to…it isn't safe here."

"Teleport," Miyako echoed, and looked down at her hands for a moment. She could see only a few tiny tendrils of magic slowly floating through her aura, and stared toward one of them with intensity, willing it to move, to bend to her will. It floated aimlessly about and then dissipated into nothingness. "I'm sorry…I can't. "

There was a sound nearby, a bang upon the outside door, and then she could hear Takeru and another voice shouting, speaking loudly. Immediately, Miyako got to her feet and went to the doorway, moving aside the curtain. She saw then that Takeru was holding the door open as his brother came into the house.

Yamato did not appear to be injured, though his hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat and his skin was covered with a layer of soot and ash, indicating that he had most recently been helping with firefighting efforts. He was helping to support another person as they came through the door into the small house.

"Ken!" Miyako realized, and stepped away from the curtain. Like Yamato, he was covered with the remains of the fire and sweat from his exertions. A makeshift bandage was tied around his right arm. Wormmon, obviously quite tired, was half asleep in his left arm.

"I'm all right," he said immediately, apparently noting immediately the concerned expression on her face and evident in her voice. "The fire's been stopped."

The door shut quietly then as the third member of the party, the wizard Koushiro, pulled it closed. Like the others, he was covered with soot and ash, though his was a slightly thinner layer than the others.

"They told us we could rest at this house," Yamato said, explaining immediately their presence and purpose. "The woman, she was helping tend the injured, and she told us that we could stay here."

Miyako nodded. "I should…should I get some food…?" She turned her head from side to side, looking around the kitchen. "I'm sure there's something to eat, or I could go to the market, or…." Her eyes fell once more on Ken, and the cloth tied around his arm. "You're hurt."

"It's nothing," he said, "only a little bit of a burn."

"I think I am more tired than hungry," Koushiro said, having a passing knowledge of Miyako's mostly nonexistent culinary skills. "Is there a place to lay down?"

"In here," Takeru replied helpfully, and pushed aside the curtain on the room in which he had spent the night. The wizard nodded his thanks and passed into that room, yawning as he walked, Tentomon buzzing after him.

Yamato took a seat at the small table, sighing, and his partner Gabumon and Ken followed suit. "Some food," Yamato said, "would not be unappreciated. Is there water to drink, for now?" He cleared his throat. "I feel as though I have been breathing nothing but smoke for the past hour."

There was, as the boys had carried fresh buckets from the nearby river earlier that morning, before they had gone with their mother to help at the house. Takeru located several mugs and filled them with the cool, clear liquid, and set them on the table.

While Ken downed half his glass in one gulp, Miyako sat down beside him. When he paused for air, she said, "Will you at least let him look at it?"

He frowned unhappily for a moment, then sighed and held out his right arm. It was not bleeding, but the bandage was rather grimy from the dirt and soot of the fire. Takeru frowned at it a moment. "I suppose," he said, "that I will need a bit more water."

"I'll get it," Yamato volunteered, having already downed his glass. He set it down upon the table with a thud, and then, taking a bucket from near the door, left the house.

"The fire is out, did you say?" Takeru questioned as he began to slowly unwrap the bandage. "I suppose Koushiro helped with that task."

Ken nodded. "It seems the fire started in the kitchen," he replied, "although that doesn't explain how the upper towers caught fire. Most of the servants' quarters are near the kitchen, and so they were able to get out quickly once they realized what was happening."

"And the kitchen entrance is near the water, isn't it?" Takeru asked. He was peeling another section of the cloth as he spoke, and parts of it were sticking quite firmly to the skin.

"Right, there's a stream a short distance away," Ken answered. "Once they had most everyone out that they could think of, they started carrying buckets of water. By that point, though, the fire was larger than could be handled."

"So there weren't many people hurt?" Miyako concluded.

Ken shook his head. "Small burns mostly," he replied, "Luckily. Nothing serious."

"Which is good," Takeru replied, "because I don't know if I've got enough in me to help with anything else serious right now."

***

Mid-afternoon, Miyako caught her first sight of the house at Motomiya in daylight. Clouds of smoke were still rising from a few spots, but the flames had stopped entirely.

The red bricks which composed most of the building were largely covered with the same ash and soot which by now also covered most of the people present, causing the house to look more gray than red. A large section of the roof was missing, and several windows had been broken, but otherwise the house appeared from the outside to be in decent shape.

"The kitchen," Yamato was saying as the small group walked toward the house, "is the worst, because it seems that's where the fire started. The rooms nearest the kitchen, too. Everything else seems like it's covered with soot but there's not really too much damage. It could have been a _lot_ worse."

"It looks a lot better than I expected," Hikari admitted, pausing to study the view from this distance. She turned toward the grounds beside the house, which were filled with more people than would usually be expected for a spring afternoon.

A good deal of villagers had arrived to help the servants of the house, as most of them were related. The village men who worked the fields nearby were also present. For now, most appeared to be tending to those who had been injured, a task which was nearing completion.

Though Koushiro and Takeru were desperately in need of rest and recuperation, Yamato was eager to return to work. Miyako, feeling restless and useless sitting about taking up space, had asked to go with him when he returned, and, upon hearing the plan, Hikari had volunteered as well.

Ken had wanted to come too, but Miyako had argued with him for

several minutes on the subject, backed by Yamato, who had seen the state of his injured arm before and thought rest was needed. Miyako also knew that he had not slept in far longer than was usually advised. He had argued in return that she should not go alone (though he had tactfully not mentioned her lack of magical ability at the moment), to which she had replied that she was not going to be alone, as Yamato and Hikari would be present, as well as most of the village. In the end, he had given in, most likely because he did not have the stamina for a long argument and she did.

A man broke free of the crowd of people on the grounds when they were but a short distance away, a Terriermon riding upon his shoulders. Apparently recognizing Yamato, he hurried up to them and paused a few steps away to catch his breath. He coughed a few times, undoubtedly an after-effect of too much smoke inhalation, before he spoke.

"Is there news, sir?" he questioned. "From the village?"

"He's all right," Yamato reported immediately. "My brother healed him, as expected. He's resting."

"Oh, thank heavens," the man replied, and then, apparently becoming aware of the ladies, bowed his greetings. "I am Touya," he reported, "foreman of the fields, advisor to," and he paused briefly here, "the late Lord Motomiya." He briefly gazed upward, in reverence to his deceased employer.

Miyako and Hikari both immediately bowed back greetings as Yamato introduced them to the man. "He's the one who was responsible for organization of the firefighting efforts," he explained, "and everything that's happened since."

"Oh, I haven't done all that much," Touya replied modestly. "It's only part of my job. I'm happy to report that we've accounted for every person who was reported to be in the house at the time of the fire."

"And no serious injuries?" Hikari questioned. "That's quite impressive."

He beamed. "It is indeed, your highness," he replied. "It seems that perhaps we may have had a bit of luck on our side with that."

"Well, it seems that now the cleaning and rebuilding will have to begin," Yamato noted, frowning in the direction of the house. "We've already sent word to Jun, and I'm sure that as soon as she hears about her father, she'll want to arrange a funeral."

Touya nodded in agreement. "And it would be nice if the house was less than a complete disaster upon her arrival," he finished. "Understood, sir. I'll start organizing cleaning crews right away."

"Do you suppose I could help?" Hikari interrupted, before he could turn back toward the crowds of people. "That is, that you could work me into one of these cleaning crews?"

Touya opened his eyes wide, eyebrows nearly disappearing into his hairline. Yamato, too, raised one eyebrow in surprise, and Miyako said, "Hikari?"

"I'll admit I'm not _particularly_ skilled when it comes to domestic tasks," Hikari went on, "but I know how to use a mop and a broom."

Touya glanced briefly toward Yamato, who shrugged, and then toward Miyako who was only blinking a bit more than necessary, and then said, "As you wish, your highness. I'm sure that we could find you something to do."

***

"I still think it's a bad idea," Takeru stated grumpily for what might possibly have been the hundredth time since that afternoon. "You have far more faith in my healing abilities than you should."

"I don't see why," Daisuke replied. "You managed to heal up a very large hole in my stomach without a problem."

Despite his protests to the contrary, Takeru was helping Ken to help Daisuke into the back of a small cart. The back of it was filled with soft hay and a few blankets, ensuring that the ride would be cushioned and comfortable. Takeru had only agreed to the excursion so long as Daisuke promised not to do too much moving, which Daisuke readily agreed to as, despite his claims of health, there was still a bit of an aching soreness in his stomach.

"That doesn't mean you are completely healed," Takeru retorted. "As I explained before, too much exertion will undo what I've done, and I don't know that I've currently got the strength to redo it."

"Well, I won't exert myself, then," Daisuke promised again.

The sun was beginning to sink below the buildings, and the dark blue shade of dusk made it difficult to clearly see the roads or the scowl that Takeru was clearly expressing. He had been in a rather foul mood since that morning, for no particular reason that could be seen.

"Should I drive?" Koushiro questioned, interrupting what could have turned into a long argument with a rather practical question. "I'm not the most talented, but I could manage."

"I'll do it," Takeru volunteered, and stalked to the front of the cart. Ken and Koushiro watched him go, and then climbed into the back beside Daisuke.

"He seems to be in a terrible mood today," Ken noted in a low voice, speaking of Takeru. "Is this possibly because of all the magic he's used?"

Koushiro shrugged. "I suppose it's possible," he admitted, "but I've never heard of such a thing. Still, healing magic might affect healers in different ways."

The cart began to move, slowly, through the village. The journey was slow, as Takeru was reluctant to urge the Monochromon to go any faster than its usual speed, which was quite slow.

"Maybe something's upset him?" Wormmon suggested.

"I can't think of what," Ken replied immediately, frowning in thought. "Maybe something that happened before we arrived." Turning to Daisuke, he questioned, "Did he and Miyako have an argument?"

This was a quite plausible conclusion, as Miyako could have an argument with almost anyone. Daisuke shook his head, which was barely visible in the dimming light, and then said, "Not that I know of."

"Did you and Takeru have an argument?" Tentomon wondered aloud before his partner could quiet him. Daisuke only shrugged.

"What could you argue about?" Ken wondered. "He healed you, didn't he?"

"He did," Daisuke agreed quietly.

***

Apologies for delays in posting. I have been incredibly lazy, and also sick. I am mostly better now, so the regular schedule will resume. Thank you for reading, and I hope you are enjoying.

The end is nearing. Current estimates are for thirty eight or thirty nine chapters.


	34. Fixing

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Thirty-Four:** Fixing**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon, _all related characters, money, prestige, etc, does not belong to me. Plot does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy

***

By mid-morning, Hikari was half-covered with soot. The original color of her skirts was quite unknown, as they were now a dark gray, and a bit of soot fluttered to the ground with each tiny bit of movement she attempted. She had spent most of the previous evening sweeping most of the dust from the kitchens, and had risen fairly early to begin scrubbing the toughest of the grime from the floors and walls.

It was a difficult task, which required much effort, and the work of many people. It was not only the kitchens which had been damaged in the fire, but also the halls and the rooms nearest to the kitchen. The cooks had begun taking stock of the supplies which had not been damaged (there wasn't much) and to attempt to put things in order once more.

There had been some reluctance, Hikari noted, in assigning her a task. She had arrived in the kitchens to find them in a sorry state, and though the rest of the crew had been assigned tasks and gotten to work, the cooks had not seemed to know what task would be suitable for her. They were not used to having a princess in their midst.

Hikari had solved this problem by fetching her own bucket of water and brush and beginning at once on a section of the kitchen which was not occupied by another scrubber. Mimicking the actions of the others, she scrubbed until her arms and hands felt as though they might fall off and her eyes, hair, and most of her clothes and skin were covered with the soot and dust of the fire's aftermath.

Meanwhile, others had begun carting away the remains of furniture, pans, pots, baking sheets, and other miscellaneous cooking utensils which were no longer usable. Those which might be salvageable were also carted out, to be cleaned and fixed up. Very little would be saved, it seemed.

At some time in late morning, a boy appeared in the kitchen doorway. Unlike the others, he was dressed in clothes which were relatively clean. He paused in the doorway for a few moments and cast his eyes over the room.

"There's no food to be had, if that's what you're seeking, Shijo," one of the cooks told him, having noticed him when she pulled her head out from the fireplace she'd been scrubbing. "What there was is all burned, so there's nothing to eat here."

"No ma'am," he replied immediately, "I was actually looking for a person…for the princess. I was told she was working in the kitchens, but…." He gazed around the room, but, as everyone was quite covered in dust and dirt and debris, it was hard to determine who was present.

Hikari got to her feet and brushed off a bit of the dirt from her skirt – a mostly futile task. "I'm here, Shijo," she told him, and rubbed some of the soot from her eyes with the back of her hand – which was relatively clean after being dunked in the bucket of soapy water she had been scrubbing with.

He blinked in her directions, apparently not having expected to see her in this way. "Oh," he said, and then blinked. "Well…I was sent to find you, if you don't mind…if you're not busy."

She set the scrub bush in the bucket of water once more and shook some more of the dust from her skirt. "I'm going to get this everywhere," she noted. Experimentally she pulled up a bit of her skirt and looked down at her shoes, which were similarly covered. She examined the soles as well, and saw that they were caked with the soot and ash. "Footprints all over the floors, at least."

"Well the rest of the house isn't terribly clean," Shijo reported. "This stuff gets everywhere."

She rinsed her hands in the bucket of soapy water quickly and saw that it did nothing to clean the dirt from under her nails. Sighing, Hikari decided to give up. "All right," she said, heading for the door. "Lead on."

He nodded, stepping out into the hallway beyond, which was not in any better state than the kitchen. Paint was peeling off the walls, which were now a dull shade of gray. In certain spots, large holes had burned through, and only a bit of the frame was visible. Bits of plaster covered the floors, and the soot and ash covered all of it, even the ceilings. Every so often someone would run down the hall, or pass through it on the way to another room, and no one had escaped the effects of it. A few of them recognized Hikari, and paused to quickly bow polite greetings, but most of them saw only another soot-covered person and hurried upon their way.

"It's good to see that they've already started fixing things," Hikari commented as they passed by a room in which workmen were already beginning to rebuild a wall which had been nearly destroyed. "Before long, it might not even seem as though anything happened."

"Yes ma'am," Shijo agreed, nodding. "I think some of them were motivated to get things more in order before Lady Jun returns."

He halted now in front of a door in the middle of a nearly untouched hallway. The rooms here were mostly unused bedrooms, set aside for guests of some importance, and a few studies, none of which were used with any regularity. Most of the house was unlivable, but in this hall it seemed as though almost nothing had changed.

Beyond the door was a small bedroom which somehow had become a place for Daisuke, since his usual room had been quite badly damaged by the fire. It was simply decorated, with a large, four-poster bed in one corner, a few stiff-backed armchairs, a small, comfortable looking couch, and a fireplace, which was blazing brightly. Hikari stepped into the room, feeling a bit out of place considering the state of her clothes.

Daisuke was sitting on the window seat beside the bed, looking out toward the village beyond. Though his face was still a bit pale, it seemed as though he was otherwise mostly recovered from his injuries. Remembering how he had looked only a few days earlier, Hikari breathed another silent but sincere thanks toward her cousin for having taught Takeru the healing magics so well.

He had not heard the door open and shut, and so Hikari cleared her throat quietly and took a step into the room. "You wanted to see me?" she asked, and Daisuke turned toward her.

"I – what…where have you been?" he wondered, stumbling over his words a bit, apparently at the sight of her.

"The kitchens," Hikari answered, pointing over her shoulder in the direction from which she had come. "They're filthy, and not very useable, and there's a lot of work to be done." She might have gone on, but, seeing the strange expression upon his face, she fell silent.

"The kitchens," Daisuke echoed, and got to his feet, slowly. "I think you could do with a bath."

Hikari did not miss the brief wince of pain that passed over his face, nor the pause he took before taking a few steps forward. "Probably," she admitted, "but I'd likely get dirty again in a few moments, since much of the house is like this."

He only nodded in response, and she noted now the expression in his eyes, as though he was contemplating something internal. He took a few more steps forward and paused a few steps in front of her. "You don't have to work in the kitchens," he said. "You don't have to…."

"I know," she replied immediately. "I wanted to help. I can't heal you, I can't rebuild the house, I can't stop whoever did this. I can't use any magic right now." She raised her right hand, and let the sleeve of her dress fall back to reveal a wide metal band that encircled her arm a short distance above her wrist. "I can scrub floors, though."

"Scrub floors," Daisuke echoed, and then sighed. This time, the wince of pain that came was more pronounced, and seemed to last longer. Instinctively, Hikari took a step forward, and reached out, but stopped herself immediately, remembering that she was still covered with soot.

"You're in pain," she observed, and he nodded reluctantly, then opened his eyes once more.

"It's nothing much," he assured her. "Only a little bit, here and there, and it passes." He took a deep, slow breath.

"Sit down, then," Hikari suggested, gesturing toward the couch. "Should I go and get Takeru?" She turned, intending to open the door, but was stopped by the grip of his hand upon her arm.

"No," he said, and shook his head. "I'm fine."

She opened her mouth, apparently intending to say something, but did not.

"He'll only say that it's from moving too much," Daisuke said in answer to her silence. "He'll say I should rest more, and stay in bed, and I don't want to listen to him."

Hikari hesitated momentarily, then sighed and nodded. "Will you sit down, at least?" she asked, and he agreed to this.

He was still holding on to her, gripping her arm halfway between her hand and her elbow, forming a relatively clean spot of fabric in the midst of the soot, and so Hikari took a few steps with him toward the couch before another spasm of pain passed over him. This time, it was undoubtedly more painful than before, for he let out a quiet grunt of pain and squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

Ignoring this time the dust and soot that covered her, Hikari stepped forward and took his arm over her shoulder, leading him toward the couch. "Shijo!" she called as loudly as she could manage.

The door opened a few moments later, at the same point that they finally reached the couch and Daisuke was sinking into the pillows. "Please," Hikari was saying, "there might be something very wrong. Let me get Takeru."

Even now he was shaking his head, but he did not have time to speak any words before another bit of pain passed over him. It was another moment before he nodded, and managed to gasp out, "All right."

Hikari started to get to her feet, but found that he was still tightly grasping her arm, and so instead simply rearranged herself so that she was sitting more comfortably, and looked toward Shijo, who nodded in understanding and immediately left.

"I'm getting soot and dirt all over this couch, you know," she said after a moment. "This room used to be clean."

Daisuke, leaning back against the couch cushions, turned his eyes toward her and smiled. "It can be cleaned again," he replied, and sighed. "Don't go."

"I won't," Hikari answered immediately. A moment passed in silence before she ventured to ask, "Is this why you sent for me – because it hurts?"

Daisuke shook his head, but did not speak for a long moment. Though he did not squeeze his eyes shut, Hikari wondered if another spasm of pain had come, as he had closed them and was not moving. Before anything more could be said, the door opened, and Takeru entered, a stern and disapproving frown upon his face.

Like Hikari, he was far from clean, though he was in a slightly better state than she was. His normally blond hair was now more of a light gray, and his skin was a shade darker than usual, coated with a bit of the ash and soot that covered everything. He entered the room apparently intending to launch immediately into a lecture on the importance of rest in the recovery process, but forgot it at the sight of Hikari.

"Can you help?" Hikari asked before Takeru could voice his startled opinion. "He says it's nothing, but there are pains…and they're getting worse, I think."

Takeru shifted his eyes from Hikari to Daisuke, who was still sitting on the couch, head leaning back upon the couch cushions behind him. Once more the healer's face curved into a frown, but he crossed the room in a few long strides and placed his hand upon Daisuke's forehead once more.

After a moment, the disapproving frown was replaced with a confused frown, and he turned toward Shijo, who was still hovering in the doorway in case emergency supplies might be needed (as it had seemed might happen). "I need Miyako," he said, and the boy nodded immediately and vanished at once.

"Miyako?" Daisuke wondered. "What - ?"

Takeru had shut his eyes, however, and was frowning in concentration now, apparently quite focused upon his task. Daisuke instead looked toward Hikari, who was now looking quite worried.

"If he needs Miyako," she said in response to his confused expression, "does that mean there's something magical?"

Daisuke had absolutely no idea, but this seemed to be the most likely scenario. "I don't know how that's possible…," he began, but stopped himself from speaking further on the subject as another spasm of pain jolted through him and he squeezed his eyes shut.

Hikari reached forward, taking his hand in her own and holding it tightly. After a moment, he squeezed back, and after another moment, the pain had passed once more. Takeru only deepened his frown.

The door opened once more and Miyako now came into the room. Like the others, she was far from clean. She had tied most of her long hair up behind her head, but a few strands had fallen out to fall limply on the sides of her face. At some point, she had also rubbed at her face with one of her not-so-clean hands, and so now a smudge of soot was upon her right cheek.

"What's going on?" she wondered. Noting Hikari's worried expression as well as the puzzled, serious frown that Takeru still had, Miyako's gaze passed toward Daisuke, who had shut his eyes and was breathing deeply and slowly. "What's happened?"

"I'm not exactly sure," Takeru replied. "I think the problem might be more magical than physical."

Miyako's confused expression became more intense. "What's the problem?"

"It hurts," Daisuke replied, opening one eye.

Miyako shook her head. "I don't understand," she said to Takeru. "I thought you healed him. Did it not work?"

"It seemed to, until very recently," he defended. "I feel magic. I didn't feel it before."

She frowned now, and squinted her eyes so that she could better see, then took a few steps forward and sat in an armchair directly across from the couch. For a long moment, she stared toward Daisuke, and then she shook her head.

"Fuzziness," she mumbled absently. "It isn't clear."

"I definitely sense _something_ magical," Takeru said, defending himself. "I can't have imagined that, I don't think."

Daisuke briefly interrupted all conversation by letting out a noise that was somewhere between a moan and a whimper. He shut the eye he had opened when Miyako had entered, and leaned his head back to rest it upon the cushions.

"What sort of pain is it?" Takeru questioned. "A sharp pain, a dull pain, a burning sensation?

Miyako got to her feet and walked a few steps to one side, tilting her head and squinting out of first one eye and then the other.

"It feels like I'm being stabbed in the stomach," Daisuke replied without opening his eyes. "I suppose that's a sharp pain, since it was a sharp object."

"What was it?" Miyako questioned, and all eyes in the room turned toward her, even both of Daisuke's. "The thing that stabbed you, I mean. Was it a sword…?"

He shook his head. "It was a dagger," he replied, and held up both his hands a fair distance apart. "That big."

Hikari and Takeru both stared at this, for the distance was easily the length of two hands. It was a fairly large size for a dagger, and Takeru so remarked, "Are you certain that was a dagger, and not a small sword?"

"Was there anything different about it?" Miyako questioned before Daisuke could respond to this question. "Did it look different from an ordinary dagger?"

"I don't have much experience," Daisuke began, and then paused briefly as another spasm of pain briefly attacked him. "I don't have much experience with daggers, but it looked like an ordinary dagger."

"Aside from being fairly large," Takeru replied. "The daggers that I've seen are a bit smaller than that." He looked toward Miyako, confused expression returning once more. "What does it matter what stabbed him?"

"You're thinking that the weapon was enspelled," Hikari answered before Miyako could speak. "Otonashi used weapons that were enspelled; maybe his descendant does the same."

"You said that Otonashi didn't use weapons _unless_ they were enspelled," Takeru pointed out. "This one has shown no hesitation about using his sword."

"It would explain the magic," Miyako said, nodding toward Hikari. "It grows clearer with each bit of pain. There are spells which do not take effect right away, but wait a bit before activating. If it was an enspelled weapon, it's possible that a curse was built into the weapon itself."

"All this," Daisuke interrupted before Takeru could speak again, "is quite interesting, but doesn't answer the question." He paused a brief moment to wait for a bit of pain to pass, and then another brief moment for his head to clear, as the spasms had begun to make his head spin, even though he had not moved much since they had begun.

"What do you do about it?" he finally finished.

Miyako frowned in thought a moment. "Removing a curse _should_ in theory be fairly easy. If blasting it with healing magic hasn't done the trick," here she glanced briefly toward Takeru, "and it doesn't seem to have, then it'll have to be unwound." She sighed heavily. "The problem with that is that it's far easier to unwind a spell if you can see it, and I've managed to lose my glasses."

Takeru shook his head to clear his confusion. "You don't need the glasses to see the spell," he pointed out.

"No," Miyako agreed, "but you do. Or Koushiro does, if you'd rather he does it."

"Is there some reason," Hikari interrupted before Takeru could speak again, "why you can't do it yourself?"

Miyako's frown grew deeper. "I haven't got enough magic," she confessed, which caused all eyes to once more turn toward her in surprise. "I haven't got enough to teleport, and I don't have enough to light a fire, and so I don't think I'd be able to unravel a curse."

"Haven't got enough magic?" Takeru echoed.

"How did this happen?" Hikari wondered at the same time.

She shrugged lightly, as though brushing aside the seriousness of the problem. "I don't know," she replied, "I only know that I don't."

"Somehow," Daisuke said quietly, interrupting whatever else anyone might have said at that moment, "they stole it from you, didn't they?"

Miyako was intently studying her hands, twisting her fingers around between each other. "Perhaps," she said after a moment of silence in which all eyes were once more upon her. "I don't know," she said, speaking quickly, "but it's beside the point. I can't unwind the curse, and it's not going to be easily removed without seeing."

"Is it something that Koushiro could do?" Hikari questioned. When Miyako nodded with certainty, she glanced toward Shijo once more. The boy waited for no words to be spoken, but left the room immediately.

"Why on earth haven't you said anything?" Takeru questioned when the door had shut. "Between us – you, me, Koushiro – we might find a solution."

Miyako sighed and sat down in the armchair once more. "Koushiro needed his strength to stop the fire, to help with the rebuilding, to aid in other, more important projects," she replied, "and you were needed for healing." She nodded briefly toward Daisuke as she spoke, as though to remind all present of the seriousness of his condition.

"Something happened," Daisuke said before Takeru could argue her point, "while you were gone."

Hikari had apparently come to this conclusion as well, for she was peering at Miyako with an intense, thoughtful expression, frowning steadily. Miyako sighed once more. "Yes," she admitted. "Something…but I don't know what."

"Well, let me see," Takeru stated simply, and took a step toward her, but Miyako immediately raised both her hands and shook her head.

"No. Tend to the injured, first," she told him. "I'm fine."

Before he could protest further, the door to the room opened once more, and Koushiro entered. Like the others, he was dusted with a thin layer of soot and ash, and sported a weary but concerned expression. Tentomon followed after him, carrying a large, dusty volume of magical information, which he deposited upon the cushion of the empty armchair before setting down on the back of it.

"A magical problem relating to the injury?" the wizard questioned, having heard a brief summary from Shijo on his journey to the room. "Tell me more."

"Miyako seems to think it might have been caused by an enspelled weapon," Takeru reported, still glancing toward Miyako with a concerned expression. "I sense magic, but no physical damage."

"What do you see?" Koushiro asked.

"It's faint," Miyako admitted, "but there is a haze of magic around the area of the wound. It's not a spell; that would have been sensed earlier. Could it have been a delayed spell?"

"Could have been," the wizard replied. He lifted the volume from the chair his partner had set it upon and then sat down and opened it on his lap. "It's possible that the weapon was enspelled in order to ensure death…so that even if the victim somehow escaped death from the original injury, the magical damage would do the job."

Both Miyako and Takeru glanced toward Daisuke, who was merely frowning with a resigned expression, eyes half-shut from the pain, as though he had expected such a thing. Hikari had opened her eyes wide, mutely expressing her horror at the idea.

"Can you remove it?" she asked after a moment in which the wizard had flipped through pages and read over a few words.

"I can make no guarantees, princess," Koushiro replied immediately, "but I will certainly do my best. I can safely say that I do not believe it to be an impossible task."

He got to his feet, taking the book with him, and crossed the space between himself and Daisuke. He reached out one hand, as Takeru had done, but did not make physical contact. Instead, he shut his eyes and appeared to be concentrating quite intensely for a few moments.

All eyes were upon the wizard as he worked. Miyako saw that his aura, normally a calm, nearly clear haze of magic and soul that hovered about him, changed rapidly into a deep orangey-brown color, radiating from him like a magical fire.

After a moment of preparation, the wizard stretched out his other hand to meet the first, and then stretched out this orangey colored aura. The book he had carried with him remained, hovering in midair beside him, held up by the strength of his magic. As Miyako watched, the magic moved forward to meet the magic which comprised the spell, an inky black conglomeration which moved away from the attack and twisted itself tighter around its victim.

Unsurprisingly, Daisuke briefly cried out in pain at this assault, which alarmed Hikari and Takeru, as they could not see the effects of the wizard's efforts. Briefly, they exchanged glances, as each silently wondered if Koushiro was doing more harm than good. The wizard himself, eyes shut in concentration, took no notice, and Miyako was watching him with too much interest to pay attention to anything further. Daisuke had shut his eyes against the newest influx of pain, which was stronger than the previous spasms, and so also saw nothing.

Koushiro directed his orange-colored magic toward the center of the spell, stretching out thin, finger-like tendrils toward it. After several attempts, he managed to magically grasp a section of it, and then he pulled his arms toward himself, directing the magic back. The blackness of the spell attempted to keep its hold upon its prey, but was slowly pulled away. Koushiro took a step back and tugged once more, and the spell was forced to release its hold, slipping through skin and bones and emerging into the open air. Once there, it vanished into nothingness, since without a victim it had lost its purpose.

Daisuke let out a breath of relief and opened his eyes. He blinked a few times and looked around him.

"Is it gone?" Takeru asked, looking toward Miyako.

"It's gone," she confirmed, and turned to Koushiro. She would not have been surprised to see him drained and tired from using so much magic, but the wizard did not appear to be adversely affected from his exertions. He reached out and took the book he carried into his arms, and reined in the remainder of his magical aura with a deep breath.

"It's gone," he agreed, nodding briefly toward Miyako before turning his attentions to Daisuke. "You should feel better almost immediately, I think."

Daisuke nodded. "Yeah," he agreed, nodding. "The pain was a bit worse for a moment, but now it's gone." He looked down at his stomach, and placed one hand upon it.

"The one that cast that spell is no apprentice mage," Koushiro said with a frown, "but a very skilled wizard." Once more, he turned toward Miyako. "Remember that."

She nodded. "I'm quite aware," she assured him.

"Is there something you can do?" Takeru questioned, speaking quickly before Miyako could interrupt him. "To help her?"

"Help?" Koushiro echoed, raising both eyebrows.


	35. Emotional Exploration

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Thirty-Five: **Emotional Exploration**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, characters, money, etc, is not mine. Plot is. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

***

The sun was nearing the end of its journey through the sky. An orange-red glow filled the small but clean bedroom, casting shadows on the walls.

Takeru was preparing to leave. He had bathed, removing all of the soot and ash from his hair and skin, and dusted the debris from his clothes as much as possible. He could, he thought, now appear almost acceptable in polite society. He stood in front of a mirror, absently flattening his still-wet hair and adjusting the collar of his shirt, which for some reason was quite set upon being crooked.

"Make sure you tell her that I'm fine," Daisuke told him from across the room, where he was, as ordered, remaining in bed. "Make sure you emphasize that."

"Well, the message we sent by Piyomon yesterday would have reached them by now," Takeru replied, "and I did make sure to mention it then."

"Yes, but she won't believe you," came the answer. "You might want to carry a weapon."

Takeru frowned, turning away from the mirror for the first time. "I don't see why your sister should have any reason to be upset with _me_," he said then. "I am the one who did most of the healing, if you recall. She ought to be quite grateful to me, not angry."

"That's what you'd believe," Daisuke replied, "but she doesn't really think in a sensible manner."

Takeru went on frowning, obviously of the opinion that the entire family was quite insane, and only stopped himself from saying so when the door opened and Hikari entered.

She had, at several people's insistence, taken a bath, and several of the servants had gone to the trouble of finding her something clean to wear. It was a very simple dress, with absolutely no trimmings, frills, or embellishments whatsoever, a bland pale gray color, but it was clean and now so was she. As she pushed open the door and stepped into the room, she became aware that all eyes had turned toward her.

"Sorry, am I late?" she asked. "I was trying to hurry…."

Takeru shook his head. "No, not at all," he replied immediately, and glanced briefly back toward Daisuke, who met this gaze and nodded. "I'll be outside."

He crossed the room, stepping around Hikari, who moved aside, then opened the door and exited the room. Hikari turned to follow after him, and was surprised when he merely shut the door behind him. She moved to open the door once more, but Daisuke interrupted her.

"Don't go," he said in a quiet voice. Hikari lowered the hand she had raised to open the door, and turned back toward him, a puzzled look on her face.

"Don't go," Daisuke said again. "Please."

The puzzled expression Hikari was wearing grew more pronounced. "He's leaving," she said, pointing toward the door through which Takeru had exited. "I thought…." She paused for a brief moment. "You wanted me to go with him, didn't you?"

"I did," he admitted, "but I've changed my mind."

Hikari frowned now, still confused, and took a few steps away from the door, toward the bed. After a moment, in which it seemed she was considering these words, she spoke again. "You said…I should go back home, where it's safe, didn't you?"

Now, Daisuke frowned. "Do you want to go?" he asked. "I won't stop you if you do."

She shook her head immediately. "No," she answered. "I don't. I want…," and here she hesitated once more. She took a few more steps forward, so that now she was standing only half a step away from the bed. "I want to stay with you."

He smiled now, and stretched out one hand towards her. "Then stay," he replied.

Almost from instinct, Hikari reached out with her own hand and he took it. She took another step forward. "I don't understand," she admitted. "Yesterday, you wanted me to go home. Why have you changed your mind?"

Daisuke frowned thoughtfully, considering his response. Then, he tugged on her hand and pulled her even closer. As she was already standing at the edge of the bed, she stumbled, falling forward, and had to quickly rearrange her legs and arms so that she could now sit.

"Why did you agree to go?" he asked instead of answering.

Hikari shrugged absently, pulling one leg onto the mattress so she was sitting more levelly. "You wanted me to," she said after a moment. Daisuke simply stared at her, and she shrugged again. "I don't want to be somewhere I'm not wanted."

"Not wanted?" he echoed, and shook his head. "Don't think that. You're absolutely wanted. I wanted you to go because I thought it would be safer if you did."

"But you've changed your mind," she reminded him. "Why?"

Daisuke frowned in thought and leaned back against the pillows behind him. "I thought if you left, it might be quite some time before I saw you again."

Hikari considered this for a moment and then smiled. "So you've given up trying to be practical and protective?" she asked.

He snorted a brief bit of laughter. "I'm not very good at being practical," he replied, "and as for protective? Well, I haven't much succeeded at that, have I?" He sobered somewhat. "No, I think I'll leave protective to your brother."

She went on smiling. "I'm glad," she said. "It only makes you upset and worried all the time."

"What's the point," Daisuke went on, "in trying to protect _you_ when I can't protect myself?" He sighed, and fell silent for a moment. "I intended to let them kill me," he admitted.

Hikari leaned forward, rested her head upon his shoulder. "I'm glad they didn't succeed," she told him.

For some time, all was quiet. Near the foot of the bed, Tailmon and V-mon napped, curled up together so that it was difficult to tell where one ended and the other began. Slowly, the sun sank lower in the sky. The orange hues of sunset grew brighter before they faded and the sky painted itself the deep blue of dusk.

Feeling tired, Daisuke let his eyes fall shut and his breathing grew slow and steady. He wrapped one arm over Hikari as she sat, half-laying beside him. Absently, he raised the hand he had entwined with hers and studied their fingers, and the way they linked together. As the firelight flickered and became the biggest source of light in the room, a bit of it glinted off a band of metal which encircled her arm a short distance above the wrist.

It was cool to the touch even in the comfortable temperature of the bedroom, a sharp contrast to the warmth of her skin. At first glance it would seem to be a solid piece of metal, but upon closer inspection he saw that two pieces were interconnected like a puzzle. He raised his other arm and brought the object closer to his eyes, so he could see it more clearly.

This action woke Hikari from her half-asleep state, as the metal band was connected to her arm. She blinked in the dim light. "Koushiro made it," she reported. "It hides my magic. To magical senses, magical sight, it makes me invisible."

"He modified the chains the slave traders used?" Daisuke concluded, and she nodded.

"It didn't take very much work, he said," she replied. "It seems that the type of metal it's made of is what hides the magic. If you build a box of it, the box would be unbreakable by magic. The slave traders have probably been using it for years, in order to hide people from searchers. My brother thought that it might be useful to have something like that, especially now, but I don't think he much liked the idea of chains."

"No, I don't think he would," he agreed with a grim smile. While she spoke, he'd been studying the connections and the interlocking mechanisms, and turning both the band of metal and her arm over as he did so, to examine it from several different angles. Now, without a word of warning, he pressed a section of the metal. Another section separated from the first and the band opened and fell down upon the bed with a quiet thud.

Tailmon flicked her ears at the sound, but didn't open her eyes or stir from her sleep. Hikari stared for a moment at the space the band had once occupied on her arm, and then at the object itself on the bed. Then, she looked up toward Daisuke with a surprised expression. "Why - ?"

"I think," he said after a moment of thought, "that you can protect yourself better than I can."

***

The entrance hall of the house at Motomiya was ordinarily a rather simple space. A staircase rose high to the second floor, where most of the bedrooms were located, and several halls moved in various directions, heading for the kitchens, the servants' quarters, the dining rooms, and a multitude of sitting rooms. The actual space was fairly small and rarely used for much more than welcoming visitors before moving off to another space.

The fire which had burned only two days before had done most of its damage to the rear of the house, where the kitchens and the servants' quarters were located, though very little had been completely untouched. The upper levels, specifically the bedrooms of those who resided in the house permanently, had been quite badly damaged as well, and it would be some time before the house would be completely restored.

Takeru had promised to return shortly after sunrise with Jun, and a small crowd had gathered in this small entrance hall, awaiting her return. Though nearly everyone had work to do, a few of the maids hovered at the edge of the foyer. Yamato and Ken, expecting that Takeru would very much welcome relief both from his magical exertions and a few hours in her company, sat upon the steps leading to the upper floors.

The sun rose slowly and silently in the sky, gradually filling the space with a soft, warm light that grew brighter as time passed. An hour or so past sunrise, Ken found himself awakened from his half-asleep state by the sound of footsteps on the stairs behind him.

He was alone in the hall, at least for the moment, as Yamato had grown restless and wandered outside to stretch his legs and the maids had been called off to perform other tasks. In the quiet, he had let his eyes fall shut and had nearly returned to sleep upon the stairs. Now, hearing footsteps, he saw that Hikari was descending the steps, and he yawned wide and sat up straighter, trying to wake himself.

"I wonder if there's been a delay," Hikari wondered aloud, sitting down upon the steps a short distance away. "Takeru said _shortly_ after sunrise, didn't he?"

Ken shrugged, indicating that he was not particularly concerned. "Travel plans, so far as Jun is concerned, never go quite perfectly, I think," he replied. "I'm sure they'll be here at some point before noon."

She nodded, accepting this statement as truth. A moment of silence passed then before she spoke again. "About Miyako…," she began, and noted that she immediately had his full attention. "You know?"

"That she hasn't much magic left?" he finished, and nodded. "I know. I tried to get her to stay in Ichijouji, but she wasn't particularly happy about that."

Hikari nodded again. "Takeru and Koushiro spent an hour talking about it, discussing theories and trying different things. It doesn't seem as though any of it worked."

Ken frowned, and then sighed resignedly. "I don't know what to make of it," he admitted. "I know they did _something_, but I don't know what. If Miyako has any idea as to what's caused it, she's not saying."

From outside, the sound of Yamato's voice speaking could be heard as he directed someone toward the back of the house. Workmen had begun the rebuilding process already, and some wood was already being delivered, as well as some other essentials that would be needed in the kitchens.

"His magic," Hikari said then, "is based in emotions. It uses emotions, feelings, as power. If you want to help her, you'll need to express emotions."

Ken once more turned his head toward her. "I do?" he questioned. "What do _I_ have to do with anything?"

Before anything further could be said, the door to the house swung open once more and Yamato returned, an impatient frown upon his face. "Still not here?" he demanded of the empty space, as though his brother might be able to hear his words. "What's going on?"

Ken failed to suppress a yawn. Hikari shrugged. Yamato stuffed his hands into his pockets and leaned back against the wall, muttering a wordless oath of frustration.

There was a brief flash of light, barely visible with the morning sun streaming through the large windows, and then Takeru and Jun stood in the center of the hall.

Takeru, looking quite a bit cleaner than he had the day before, was dressed in a blue tunic, Patamon riding in his usual spot atop his partner's head. Jun, dressed in a dress which was not black but was a dark enough blue that it might have passed for such in dim light, was holding on to his arm as though she had been terrified about the prospect of teleportation. Her partner Alraumon was clinging tightly to her skirts as though she was similarly apprehensive.

"You see?" Takeru said before any of the others had completely registered their presence. "We're here already."

Jun opened her eyes, which she had squeezed shut, and blinked in the sunlight. "Are we?" she wondered, and eased up her hold upon his arm. She looked around, her eyes briefly taking note of Yamato before passing around the room to rest on Hikari and then Ken, still sitting on the stairs.

"It probably doesn't look as you remember," Hikari said, "but this is it."

Jun let go of Takeru the rest of the way and took a few steps toward the stairs. Though the entrance hall had not been damaged by the fire, it had been passed through by dozens of people in soot-covered clothes, and so the floor was completely covered with gray dust. The hall leading to the kitchen, beyond the stairs, was quite badly damaged, as pieces of the walls were missing and chunks of plaster covered the floor.

Though Hikari and Ken had both taken the time to bathe at some point during the previous day, the cleanliness had not quite stuck, and so they both still sported a thin layer of dust and ash upon their skin. Hikari was still dressed in a plain gray dress that had undoubtedly been borrowed from one of the servants or villagers. Ken had not had any such luck, and had only managed to shake the worst of it from his clothes.

"Good heavens," Jun said quietly at the sight of everything around her. Her eyes rested on Ken, who had gotten to his feet at her appearance, and she took another step toward him. "Are you – is everyone all right?"

"There were only minor injuries," he reported, "most of which were healed by Takeru yesterday." He nodded toward the healer, who still stood a short distance away. "I'm fine."

"Thank goodness," she breathed, and then, without taking time for second thoughts, stepped forward and hugged him. After a moment, she pulled back and looked up the stairs. "My brother?"

"Will survive, I'm told," Ken replied. "You want to see him?"

"I do," Jun answered immediately, one foot already on the first step.

When they had vanished at the top of the steps, Takeru yawned widely. "I suppose," he said when he was able, "that I ought to take a nap…."

"Assuming," Patamon added, "that there is a bed to sleep in."

"There are several," Hikari informed them, "and I'm sure most of them will be unoccupied this time of day." She took a step towards the nearest hallway. "I hope you don't mind if I walk along with you?"

Takeru shook his head, successfully managing to suppress another yawn. "You can catch me if I fall over," he replied with a grin, and then gave into another yawn. "Teleporting gets easier each time, but it still tires me some, especially if there's another person along for the ride."

They left the entranceway behind and walked down the nearest hallway for some time in companionable silence. Patamon, ever prepared for a rest, let his eyes fall shut and was soon quietly snoring atop his partner's head.

"Jun seems to be all right," Hikari said conversationally, and Takeru nodded.

"It seems Sora and Mimi stayed with her for most of yesterday," he replied. "When she got the news, she wanted to come right away, but no one was certain if it was going to be safe. Yamato and Koushiro came immediately, and then when they'd made certain the fire was out and Daisuke was alive, they sent word back. Even then, she wanted to come right away, in order to see him."

Hikari nodded sympathetically. "I can understand that."

They rounded a corner and began to climb a smaller set of stairs. A few of the steps creaked loudly under the weight of footsteps, but they held without breaking. "I don't suppose that it will surprise you to learn that your brother wasn't particularly happy to see me when I returned alone," Takeru said as they climbed, glancing toward Hikari out of the corner of his eye.

"No, I didn't think he would be," she agreed with a sigh.

For a few moments there was silence. They reached the top of the stairs and turned down a quiet hallway filled with empty, mostly undamaged bedrooms. A large window was set in the wall, facing the grounds below. A few gentle breezes wafted through, as it was propped open to allow them in. The sounds of voices carried up from below as workers called out to one another.

"It's funny," Hikari said then, pausing briefly to glance out at the scene through the window, "I'm only doing as he asked me to."

"Oh?" Takeru asked, raising one interested eyebrow.

She didn't answer, though, but smiled as though to some private amusement.

***

Miyako turned the wooden bucket filled with chunks of plaster upside down over the pile and watched as the cloud of dust rose up into the sky. A gentle breeze, carrying with it the cool sent of the nearby stream's water, danced through the dust cloud as it settled.

It was not quite yet summer – the spring nights were still quite cold – but it was warm enough that a bit of exercise was enough make it feel hot. Miyako wiped the back of her hand across her forehead, wondering absently if she was spreading more ash and dust across her already dirty face, and turned back toward the house.

Ken was standing near the doorway, both hands in his pockets, watching her with a concerned frown. Miyako frowned back at him. His frown suggested worry, and she'd had enough of him worrying – it wasn't helping in the slightest.

"Don't you have something to do?" she questioned of him when she was a few steps away. She took a few more steps, intending to keep on walking past him, into the house.

"Miyako," Ken said quietly, and placed one hand upon her arm, effectively halting her plans. She stopped, turned back toward him with a questioning expression. He nodded his head away from the house.

Miyako sighed and set down the bucket beside the door. "Has something happened?" she wondered, but he shook his head.

"No," he replied. "I want to talk to you."

"Well, why…?" she began, and then sighed again, shrugging. "I suppose I wouldn't mind a break."

They walked away from the house for some distance without speaking. Gentle, cool breezes danced over the short grass, scattering blossoms from the trees near the riverbanks. Small flowers had sprouted in the gardens, splashing color throughout the space. The land rose gently, climbing higher, providing a view of the village in one direction, and the planted fields in the other.

Ken paused at the top of an incline and turned back to face the house. A strong gust of wind blew past them at that moment, sending the dust from Miyako's skirts flying in the breeze. After a moment, though, it settled.

She turned her head toward the village and saw many small roofs clustered together. Distantly, it was even possible to see a few people milling about, going about their business in the town. Beyond, the forest looked like a splotch of green that stretched on to the horizon.

"You're half-covered in dust," Ken observed. "Didn't you get a chance to take a bath last night?"

She shook her head, which cause the parts of her hair she had not successfully tied back to gently slap the side of her face, and more to come loose from their bindings. Frustrated with the whole endeavor, Miyako reached up and undid the rest of it, letting her hair fall freely once more. "I was too tired," she admitted. "I was far more concerned with sleep than with a bath." She rubbed the side of her face absently, aware of the dust.

"From carrying plaster out of the house?" he wondered, and she nodded.

"Mostly," she replied. "I did some cleaning, too." She shrugged absently. "Is this why you brought me out here, to ask what I did yesterday?"

He shook his head. "And your magic?"

Miyako sighed. "I wish you'd stop worrying about it. If it's gone, it's gone, and there's not much I can do about it, is there?" She took a few steps away from him, then turned to face him once more. "It's still gone. I'll live with it. I lived most of my life without magic, I can live the rest."

"You're pretending it doesn't upset you," Ken said after a moment of silence. "It does."

She shrugged, turned away from him, and cast her eyes to the sky as though she was studying an interesting cloud formation. A group of Piyomon was faintly visible, high up in the blue expanse. "I'll live with it," she said again.

Ken took a step forward, placed one hand upon her arm again. "His magic uses emotions," he said. "Maybe somewhere in that is the key to undoing whatever was done."

Miyako snorted in disbelief. "Is that what broke the spell on Hikari? Feeling emotions?" She shook her head. "Somehow, I doubt that."

No sooner had she spoken, however, than her mind turned back to a conversation, to something Takeru had said about emotions. Another thought emerged into her mind then, and she frowned in thought.

"Is it?" Ken wondered. "I don't know."

"I don't know either," Miyako admitted. "I never did get a chance to ask her, what with all that's happened." She turned back toward Ken then. "She did say that she knew how to break the spell. Well, she didn't _say_ exactly, since she couldn't at the time, but when I asked her if she knew, she nodded, which comes out to the same thing."

Ken said nothing to this, but adopted his own thoughtful frown.

"When you think about it," Miyako went on after a moment in which it became obvious that he wasn't immediately going to say anything, "it might be possible. I mean, there weren't any magic-users around her at the time. You and I were…wherever we were, and Takeru had gone to Hida. So, unless Hikari used her own magic to break the spell, which doesn't seem likely…."

"Which emotions?" Ken said then, interrupting her thinking aloud before she could decide to head back toward the house, find Hikari and ask her.

"What?"

"If it's emotions that broke the spell, which ones were they?"

She thought a moment. "When the carriage tipped over, Hikari regained the ability to speak, if only long enough to say a few words. So whatever emotion was felt in the time before the carriage tipped over, that was the emotion that broke the spell…temporarily."

"Well what could she have been feeling beforehand?" he wondered. "Fear?"

Miyako shook her head immediately. "No, that was the theory that I had at the time, but Hikari said that was wrong. We thought she was afraid, concerned because Takeru had been thrown off the top of the carriage."

"Maybe it wasn't _her_ emotions," Ken suggested after a bit of thought.

"Wasn't _her…_," Miyako echoed, at first in disbelief, but then thoughtfully. "All right, maybe," she admitted, "but then _whose_? There were four other people nearby…the driver, Takeru, Daisuke, and me."

Ken opened his mouth to speak his reply, but she interrupted before he could make a sound. "It must have been Daisuke!"

He closed his mouth, nodded in agreement.

"He was the only one nearby _both_ times!" Miyako went on, then turned her head back toward the house, as though she intended to go seek him out and demand details. After a moment, she frowned, though, and shook her head, turning back toward Ken. "That doesn't help me, though, does it?"

"Maybe it does," Ken replied. "What emotion was it?"

Miyako shrugged. "Well it must have been love, right?" she answered immediately. "In the instant before the carriage tipped over, he reached for Hikari, wanting to shield her from harm, because that's what he does." She shrugged again. "So at some point after everyone else had left, he must have somehow been motivated to feel that emotion again."

"Only _feel_?" Ken wondered after a moment, "or _express_?"

"Probably express," Miyako replied. She looked once more toward the house and sighed wistfully. "Not as though that helps me regain my magic," she said then. "It isn't as though he loves _me._" She snorted a short laugh, as though such a notion was quite ridiculous.

She turned back once more toward Ken and saw that he was looking at her with a rather strange expression. It looked to be a mix between confused, thoughtful, exasperated, amused, and pained, and had the effect of making her feel suddenly self conscious.

"Then again," she said, "it could be that I'm completely wrong." She brushed a bit more dust from the front of her skirt, sending up a small but significant cloud, which dissipated in a gentle gust of wind.

"No," Ken said. "I think you've got it right."

A sudden, strong gust of wind blew past at that moment, sending her hair flying into her face. Miyako turned her head away, gazing once more toward the village in the distance. She felt a touch upon her arm and turned back to see that Ken had once more placed a hand there.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. Confused, Miyako stared at him for a long moment before she shook her head. Before she could speak, he went on. "It should have been me."

"No," she said quickly before he could continue. "Don't say that. I don't care," she interrupted, waving a hand in disagreement. "I don't care what the motivation was, and I don't care why it was done. You don't deserve bad things any more than anyone else."

"And you don't either," he returned. He put his free hand upon her other arm, startling her. "I want to help."

"Help?" she echoed. "How can you…?"

There was neither time nor place for further words and explanations, for questions, rationalizations, nor discussions. Recognizing this, Ken said no more words of any kind. He interrupted Miyako's question and any others which might have come after it by placing one finger atop her lips, effectively stunning her into silence. Then, silencing the questions, rationalizations, and discussions in his own mind as well, leaned forward and met her lips with his own.


	36. Agreement

**The Ancient Curse**

Chapter Thirty-Six: Agreement

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon, _all related characters, merchandise, and money, is not mine. Plot is. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo!

**Additional, Non-Standard Rambling Notice:** This chapter is longer than usual, so if you have anything to do urgently very soon, consider yourself forewarned. This is partly to apologize for the delays in posting, and partly because I'm rather long-winded in general. (You've probably figured that out already.) Thanks for sticking around to read my ramblings.

That is all. Enjoy.

***

It was cold for spring, and a steady breeze was blowing. Pink and white blossoms were scattered through the air, tossed in every direction by the strong winds. If one looked hard enough, a storm could be seen brewing in the distance, with dark black clouds gathering beyond the horizon.

A substantial crowd stood in the small clearing in the garden, squeezed into a fenced-in area, spilling out onto the grass beyond it. Small stones were scattered within the fenced-in area, some larger than others and some far older. The large crowd, some of whom were half-covered in soot, ash, and dust, was dressed in somber colors of black and dark gray.

Jun caught sight of the crowd from the steps of the house and stared out at the people for a long moment without moving. Daisuke, a few steps behind her, took a few steps beyond her and was halfway down the stairs before he realized she had not followed. He stopped and turned back toward her.

"I don't want to do this," she said, still looking at the crowd. "There's so many people…I don't want to…."

Daisuke climbed the steps back toward his sister and took her hand, then pulled her along after him. She did not protest, but followed him in silence.

The crowd in the garden had been quietly murmuring amongst itself, but fell silent as they approached. A strong gust of wind blew through the garden at that moment, sending skirts and coats into disarray, scattering leaves and blossoms in a whirlwind, but no one spoke. There were no gasps nor remarks of surprise, and the silence hung heavy in the air.

Jun stepped forward, grabbed on to her brother's arm. He glanced toward her, thinking briefly of another funeral he had seen, only in his mind, and then squeezed her hand in a supportive gesture.

She would remember little of the service. Someone spoke at length, words that were intended to be comforting, but she did not later recall anything that was said or even who had spoken. Mostly, Jun recalled the strong winds that blew through the garden, scattering blossoms, and the large, solemn, wooden box that sat in the midst of the crowd. Workers had dug a large hole, and the gaping space waited patiently for the body of her father to be placed within it.

When the speaking had ended, the crowd slowly filed past the casket. Some stopped briefly to offer words of consolation or sympathy, but their faces became a blur after a few moments, and she would recall none of them. She stood, holding tightly to her brother's arm, nodding blankly at words that were spoken, pretending that she understood what was said.

After what seemed like days, but was really only a little more than an hour, the crowd vanished, and the garden stood empty once more. The villagers returned to their homes, the servants to their tasks within the house, the visitors to other places.

Daisuke and Jun stood alone in the small cemetery that now held the bodies of both their parents. The wind scattered blossoms continuously, and the sky grew steadily darker as the clouds of the approaching storm came closer. The smell of rain and dampness hung in the air, and the temperature dropped a few degrees.

"We should go inside," Daisuke said when a drop of rain landed on his head, shortly followed by another. "It's starting to rain."

Jun nodded, finally releasing her grip upon his arm, and stepped away from him. She took a few steps away, and placed one hand upon the wooden casket, not yet buried in the ground. For a long moment, she stood, unmoving. A few drops of rain fell, and then a few more, loudly sounding upon the wood.

"You saw him die," Jun said then, quietly enough that it was difficult to hear her over the rushing wind and the falling raindrops. A single tear – the first that had escaped all day – fell upon the casket with the raindrops.

Daisuke said nothing, and she turned back toward him in time to see that he was staring steadily at the ground near his feet. Feeling her gaze, he mumbled, "I'm sorry."

She was shaking her head, but he did not see it because he was still studying his shoes with some intensity. There were small pink blossoms at his feet, some of which had been stepped upon by the recently departed crowd. "Sorry for what?" Jun asked him.

A strong gust of wind blew raindrops sideways, scattered blossoms further. Alraumon, who had been standing quite near to her partner's skirts throughout the service, was nearly lost within them as the wind gusted them around her. Daisuke stuffed his hands further into his pockets and turned his head toward the house – toward the space where he had seen his father die. "I couldn't stop it," he said quietly.

V-mon, too, had been standing near to his partner all this time. When the service had ended, he'd stayed nearby, absently shuffling his feet on the ground and looking toward the house every so often. Now, he looked up toward Daisuke with a vaguely disapproving frown, which went unnoticed by the others in the dimming light.

"It's not your fault," Jun replied immediately. She stepped away from the casket and once more took hold of her brother's arm. "Don't go blaming yourself every time someone dies. It wasn't your fault Mother died, and it's not your fault this time." When he opened his mouth to disagree, she shook her head. "No, it's not. Maybe you're Chosen or something, but you're not invincible, and you can't save everyone. You can't."

A movement on the distant road caught the eye of both digimon, and Alraumon actually released her hold upon her partner's skirts in order to take a few steps forward. V-mon, too, turned toward the road and watched as the distant object moved closer.

"I was _there_," Daisuke disagreed, "I could have stopped it, and I didn't." He frowned steadily toward the casket. "It should have been me."

"Don't say that!" Jun replied immediately. She took a step forward, gripping his arm even tighter than before, and rested her head upon his shoulder. "Don't say that!" she said again.

"Jun," Alraumon said quietly, her big eyes wide and large. "There's a visitor." She pointed with one arm toward the house, where a carriage had halted near the door. Even from a distance, they could see that a crowd of servants was helping to unload the luggage, hurrying so that they might make it inside before the rain fell too hard.

"A visitor?" Jun wondered, turning her head in the indicated direction.

All four watched as the crowd of people hurried to unload the carriage. It was not immediately clear who the passenger was. It was easy to make out, however, that two guards were present who had ridden along on the back of the carriage. Even this far, it was possible to clearly the see the sword at the waist of each one.

"Oh boy," Daisuke said in a low voice. Jun turned toward him, a surprised expression on her face.

"Do you know who it is?" she asked, and then turned back in time to see that someone was walking toward them across the gardens. All they could clearly determine was that their visitor was male, and that the two armed guards were following behind him at a short distance.

"I can guess," Daisuke replied.

At the edge of the fence which marked the boundary of the cemetery, the three men halted. The wind gusted strongly at that moment, and the rain began suddenly to fall more steadily. The visitor (who was wisely dressed in a waterproof cloak with a large hood) held up a hand to indicate that the guards should not follow him, and then stepped through the gap in the fence and entered the graveyard.

By now Jun could clearly see, even in the dimming light, that it was the King who had come in the carriage. She took a step away from Daisuke and curtsied a polite greeting. "I didn't know you were coming, your majesty," she said. "You should have told me…."

"I didn't originally intend," Taichi replied. "Plans were changed at the last minute." He glanced briefly toward Daisuke as he spoke, but then turned immediately back toward Jun. "I'm sorry I'm late. I wanted to be here for the service – to say a few words. It seems I didn't make it."

She shook her head. "You didn't have to come," she told him. "This is not the safest place to be, and surely you have other things…."

"I have many hundreds of other things," Taichi replied with a shrug. "Your father was an important man, a very…," he hesitated briefly, "…influential man. I would be remiss if I did not pay my respects."

Anything further which might have been said at that moment was interrupted by a low rumble of thunder in the distance, signaling that the storm was gaining strength. The sound of rain falling upon the ground grew louder.

"Do you mind," Jun said over the sound of the rain, "if we continue inside?"

There was no one who could sanely object to getting out of the storm, and so all present quickly hurried back to the house. The rain fell stronger by the second, and so by the time they slipped through the front door and into the entrance hall, Daisuke, Jun, the two guards, and their partners were all rather wet from the rain. Taichi, the only one protected with a cloak, was only slightly damp.

Yamato was standing in the entrance hall with a small army of servants carrying drying cloths. No sooner had they entered the house than each found a warm cloth pressed into his or her hands.

"If you had told us you were coming, we could have held the service until later," Jun said when she had rubbed her face and arms as dry as possible. She turned toward the nearest servant. "Could you light a fire in the…in one of the parlors that's useable?"

"Already done," Yamato told her, gesturing with one arm toward a nearby hallway.

"If you had waited to hold the service," Taichi said in reply, "you would have had to hold it underwater." A loud rumble of thunder underscored this statement with a dramatic finality. "Go on ahead, and we'll be there in a moment." He glanced toward Daisuke briefly for the second time since his arrival.

In a short time, the small entranceway was emptied of people. Daisuke had finished with drying his face and was ineffectively rubbing his hair, which had been nearly flattened by the rain. He gave up and absently twisted the cloth in his hands. "I, um…," he began.

"Is there some _reason_," Taichi interrupted before he could say anything of consequence, "for which you are intent upon trying to keep secrets?"

"Secrets, sir?" Daisuke echoed blankly.

"I'm sure that you had something to do with it, and it's not all _entirely_ my sister's doing," Taichi went on without explanation. He took a few steps, paused, and then took a few steps in the direction he had come from, then sighed heavily. "I'm not going to ask," he said. "I'm not. I'm sure it will all be explained eventually."

A few moments of silence passed. "Um…," Daisuke said again, and the stopped. He set the cloth, which was by now quite wet, on the railing of the steps leading upstairs. "It was partly my idea," he said after a moment.

Taichi nodded.

"We came to…an agreement," Daisuke went on, shrugging absently. "I don't…I don't know what more to say."

Taichi nodded again, and glanced down the nearest hall. "I'm going to find my sister," he said, and took a step toward the hall. He paused then, and glanced toward another hall. "I don't suppose you have any idea…."

"I would guess," Daisuke replied, "that she is in the kitchen."

***

Hikari was indeed in the kitchen, having decided upon her return from the funeral services that she ought to get to work once more. Though much of the cleaning had been accomplished and the soot and ash from the fires scrubbed away, there was still much to be done. The halls near the kitchen were still dusted with a bit of soot, despite having been swept once an hour or so. Several other rooms, designated as quarters for the servants, were still quite unusable.

Hikari had not waited for instructions, but found herself a bucket, filled it with soap and water, and located a small room that needed scrubbing desperately. The door and window had been left open the night of the fire, accounting for the disaster within. Within minutes, a good percentage of soot and ash had been transferred from the floor to her skin and clothes.

It was there that Taichi located her, on hands and knees, scrubbing vigorously at a section of stone floor in a tiny bedroom off the kitchen. He had previously walked down the hallway and passed the room several times while searching for her, but not noticed her immediately. When Daisuke had said she was likely to be found in the kitchen, he had assumed that meant she was eating, or helping to plan a meal, or perhaps even cooking. He had certainly not expected to find her scrubbing the floor of a scullery maid's bedroom.

He stood in the doorway for several moments, mouth agape, eyes wide. Intent upon her work, Hikari took no notice of him until he cleared his throat loudly for the second time. Then, she looked up, absently rubbing a dusty hand across her cheek in order to move aside a lock of hair.

She was so astonished to see him that she slid backwards a short distance upon her knees and then nearly knocked over the bucket of water when she began to get up. "Taichi!" she said, and nervously rubbed both her hands upon the apron she had borrowed in hopes of staying relatively clean. "I am…what are you…I didn't know you were coming."

"I see that," he said. He took a step into the room, stepping around the small patch of floor she had so far managed to clean. With one finger, he reached out and touched the small spot of dirt she had left upon her cheek. Then he studied the spot it left upon his hand, as though confirming it was real.

"I…there's a lot of work to do," Hikari went on, attempting to explain. "I thought I could be of some help, so…." She gestured toward the bucket on the floor beside her.

Taichi said nothing for a moment, and then took another step forward. He reached out once more, and this time lifted her right arm, grasping hold of her wrist. The loose sleeve of the borrowed dress she wore fell back to her elbow, exposing the skin of her arm. "Your idea?" he asked.

Now it was Hikari who said nothing.

"I agreed to this," Taichi went on, "on the condition that you remain hidden and therefore _safe_. _You_ agreed to that, too."

"Taichi, I'm not…," Hikari began, but he interrupted almost immediately.

"You were also supposed to only be here for a few days," he continued. "You were supposed to come back with Takeru. You _agreed_ to _that_!"

He had raised his voice, though only slightly. Hikari said nothing. Frustrated, Taichi finally let go of her arm and took a few steps back toward the door.

A silence stretched on for a few minutes. Taichi said nothing, and concentrated upon keeping his composure and calming himself. This was neither the best place nor time to be shouting.

Hikari let her arm fall back down to her side, and she absently clenched both her fists open and shut.

"Tomorrow," Taichi said finally, breaking the silence. "I'm going home, and you're coming with me."

Once more Hikari hesitated. She absently twisted her fingers around themselves and studied the spot of clean on the floor near her feet. "I don't…," she said quietly, but her brother had already left.

***

The storm was vicious, but short-lived. By evening, the rains had stopped and the skies had begun to clear. A beautiful sunset was visible in the west, beyond the fields and the stream, painting the sky bright shades of orange and purple.

A wooden bench had been set along the edge of the stream, the perfect place to sit and take in the spectacular view. At some point after the evening meal, Daisuke wandered toward the water and happened upon the bench. For no reason in particular, he sat upon it and watched the sunset for a while.

His mind wandered to no place in particular, and he did not notice the set of quiet footsteps that approached from behind. He did not notice that he was no longer alone until Hikari took the seat upon the bench beside him.

"Sorry," she said when he started. "Am I interrupting something?"

Daisuke shook his head with a brief smile. "No, I'm doing nothing at all," he answered.

Hikari returned this smile with one equally as brief, and turned her head westward, toward the sun. As it sank slowly to the ground, both sat in companionable silence, saying nothing.

"Did your brother find you?" Daisuke questioned after some time had passed and the sun had fallen considerably lower.

She nodded. "Yes," she answered quietly.

A gentle breeze danced through the garden, carrying the scent of blossoms and the dampness of the recent rains. From the kitchens, the sound of pots and plates clanking in the dishwater could be heard, mixed in with lively conversations.

"How are you feeling?" Hikari asked then.

He sighed a deep sigh, inhaling the sweet smell of springtime. "All right," he said after a moment of thought, and turned away from his study of the reflection of the sun in the water.

She was looking at him with a serious expression, a bit of worry and concern in her eyes, barely evident – unless one knew what to look for. As he looked toward her, she smiled, hiding these, and nodded in response to his words.

For a long moment, Daisuke held her gaze, wondering about that worry he had seen, but it did not return. After some time, he turned back toward the sunset, and again they sat in silence as the colors slowly faded.

Insects began to chirp quietly as evening fell upon the land. A few puffy clouds floated overhead, and the stars began to peek through the clear night.

"He wants me to go home with him tomorrow," Hikari said suddenly, interrupting the song of the insects. They recovered quickly, and resumed their evening serenade.

Daisuke nodded, sighing a resigned sigh. "I'm sure half the reason he came was to retrieve you," he replied.

"Probably," she agreed, and fell silent once more.

"It _is_ safer there," he said after a moment.

"Mmm," Hikari agreed once more, and then sighed. "I know."

Again they lapsed into silence, the insect chirping growing louder. The sound of conversation in the kitchens grew quieter as the workers finished their tasks and headed off to other jobs. Another gentle breeze scattered the smell of blossoms in the air, rustling the newborn leaves on the trees.

"I've had this dream," Hikari said, once more abruptly breaking the silence. She waited until Daisuke had turned toward her with a questioning expression.

"A dream?" he echoed, and she nodded. "You mean…?"

Once more, she nodded. "The man…the swordsman…with the long hair…I don't think he's Otonashi. I think he's working for Otonashi."

"That's a possibility," Daisuke agreed after a moment of consideration. "I've had that thought, too. I'm not sure why."

"I think Otonashi is in the Western Isles."

He sat up straighter, turned his entire body now to face her. "The Western Isles?" he repeated. "The Western Isles?"

"I've had this dream," she went on, "of an old man, sitting beneath a bright full moon." She closed her eyes as she spoke, once more seeing the images in her mind. "The swordsman is speaking to him, but I don't know what they're saying. The house they're in – it's like a castle, really, and it's on a cliff overlooking the ocean."

"There are cliffs in other places…," Daisuke reasoned, and she nodded.

"I know," Hikari admitted. "I don't know exactly why I get that impression. I woke up with the feeling that they were in the West."

He was quiet a long moment, taking in this information. "To get to the Western Isles…it could take weeks, or months, even. Maybe longer, if there are storms or the boat got lost."

Hikari nodded, though the dim light of the evening was making it difficult to see this action. "For the nearest islands," she agreed. "The farthest ones could take over a year."

"And I've no idea which island he's on," he finished, and then sighed, shaking his head as though to clear it. "I don't understand. Why so far away?"

"I don't know," she admitted.

From the direction of the kitchen, the sound of pans crashing to the ground suddenly interrupted the serene silence of the evening. Immediately, both Daisuke and Hikari turned their heads toward the kitchen door, and the sound of shouting could be heard as one of the servants berated another for clumsiness. After a moment, the chaos died down, and the quiet resumed.

"I'll need to find a mage," Daisuke said then, a thoughtful frown upon his face. "The only way going to the Isles is feasible is if you teleport, and I can't do that on my own. So I'll have to find a mage who can take me there."

Hikari was silent, absently studying the pattern of the stars overhead.

"Takeru can teleport," he went on, thinking aloud, "but he doesn't know many defensive spells, and those would probably be useful. Of course, he could heal if one of us was hurt badly, but there's a limit to how much healing he can do before he's exhausted."

Feeling restless, he got to his feet and took a few steps toward the water. "If Miyako was up to it, she'd probably be perfect for it…if she'd help me," he admitted, turning to pace back toward the bench.

"You could ask Koushiro," Hikari suggested quietly.

"Hmm," Daisuke replied, considering this. "I could."

"You don't want to," she noted, and he sighed, walking back to the bench and sitting down heavily in the space he had sat before.

"I don't want to put more people in danger than I already have," he admitted, and sighed again. "I know why he's in the Islands: because I can't _get_ to him there. That's why they took Miyako's magic: because she's the most useful mage I _know_ for that."

Hikari said nothing to this, and Daisuke sank back against the bench. For a few moments more silence stretched on.

"While I was gone," he said then, "he'd probably attack my sister, and the village."

"Maybe," Hikari agreed. She looked upward once more toward the stars. A bright one was twinkling directly overhead. The moon was not yet visible, but the sky was filled with the tiny points of light. A few fluffy clouds floated between them.

Daisuke studied the toes of his shoes. A small flying insect briefly landed upon the tip of his right foot and rested there for a moment before flying onward, carried by a sweet-smelling, cool spring breeze.

"I could…," Hikari began, and then shook her head, interrupting herself. She sighed, then sat up straighter on the bench, brushing a bit of the dust from her skirts.

"You could what?" Daisuke wondered, turning his eyes toward her.

"Nothing," Hikari said, shaking her head. She brushed a bit more of the dust, and then got to her feet. "I should go back inside."

"Wait," he interrupted, and roused himself upright. "You could what? You have an idea?"

She didn't turn back to face him, which might have only been because the dim light would make it difficult to see anyway, but studied the ground at her feet. "No," she said, "forget about it." She took a few steps away from the bench.

Daisuke got to his feet. "Hikari," he said, and she stopped. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head again, but didn't turn back to face him. "Nothing."

He crossed the space between them, stepped around so that he was now standing in front of her. "It's not nothing," he disagreed. "Something's bothering you. Something _other_ than that dream."

Hikari said nothing, and went on studying the ground at her feet.

"You were going to say something," Daisuke noted after a moment. "What was it?" When she said nothing, he asked again, "What was it?"

"I was going to say that I could go with you," she said, speaking quickly, "but I can't."

He was quiet a long moment, taking in these words.

"And I knew you wouldn't think it was a good idea anyway," Hikari said then. "So forget I suggested it." She turned and took a few steps back toward the house.

"Why not?" Daisuke asked.

She stopped, turned back to him in surprise. "What?"

"Why not?" he wondered, took the few steps after her. "You can teleport, right?" Without waiting for an answer, he went on, "and I know you can raise a shield that's strong enough to stop a building from falling on me."

"Well, I don't know about a _whole_ building," Hikari admitted modestly.

He waved a dismissive hand, pushing this disagreement aside, and placed his other hand upon her shoulder. "Why not?"

"You actually think it's a good idea?" she questioned in disbelief, and shook her head. "I thought for certain you'd say no right away."

Daisuke shrugged. "You can protect yourself better than I can," he said, echoing a statement he'd made previously. "Maybe better than even your brother can. So staying here wouldn't guarantee your safety, would it?"

"I suppose not," she admitted.

"The swordsman brought Chibimon to you," he recalled. "He teleported inside the palace, right?"

"Into my bedroom," she agreed.

"So if he wanted to kill you, he could have. Your home is not the safe place we thought it was. If you're going to be safe, it's going to be because you protected yourself." He paused a moment to let her take in these words, then shrugged again. "Therefore, it doesn't much matter _where_ you are, does it?"

Hikari blinked at him, her astonished expression visible even in the dim light of the early evening. "I suppose not," she admitted after a long moment.

"You don't _have_ to go, of course," Daisuke went on. "I don't even know if going is the best option." He sighed, ran a hand through his hair absently, as though massaging his head would help his thought process. "If I do, though, I want you to come with me."

"I _want_ to," she replied immediately. "I want to protect you, I want to help you, but…." She turned, took a few steps away, and then took a deep breath. "I can't."

Daisuke shook his head as though to clear it of confusing thoughts. "Why not?" he asked again.

"My brother wants me to go with him tomorrow morning," Hikari reminded him. Before he could brush this fact aside, she continued, "and I don't think he'll agree with your statement that I can protect myself."

"I don't suppose you want to try to convince him otherwise."

She shook her head immediately. "I don't think it would do any good," she admitted, turning back to face him once more. "He's not much inclined to listen to me lately. Maybe you could…?"

Now Daisuke shook his head immediately. "No, I don't think he'd listen to me either," he replied with a grimace, and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "He's not exactly happy with me at the moment."

Hikari sighed, silently agreeing with this statement, and absently fiddled with the end of her sleeve, running the dusty material through her fingers. For a few moments, neither said anything.

"If I go with him tomorrow…," she said then, now tugging at a loose string inside the sleeve, "I don't know when I'll see you again."

He said nothing, in agreement nor disagreement, and sighed, then walked back toward the bench and sat down, studying the ground at his feet once more. After a moment, Hikari followed, sitting down beside him again.

"We could go tonight," Daisuke said after a long silence. He let the words hang in the air for a moment before he went on. "If we don't go tonight, I don't know if we'll have another chance."

"Tonight?" Hikari echoed, and when he turned to face her, he saw, even in the dim light of the stars, the same mixture of worry and concern in her eyes as he had earlier. "You mean - without telling anyone?"

"It's the only chance we'll have," he replied. "Unless you think you can convince your brother otherwise."

She sat back, looked up briefly at the stars. "When we come back," she said after a moment of thought, "he's going to kill me."

"You?" Daisuke asked, and snorted a brief, amused laugh. "I think he might be more likely to kill _me_."

Hikari shook her head. "I don't know," she replied, "I think he might be more angry with me than you." She raised one hand, pointed her first finger toward the sky. "First, I teleported to the North for no particular reason, without asking for permission or telling anyone where I was going."

"Asking for permission?" Daisuke echoed. "Since when…?"

"Then, I stayed here, which is a very dangerous place, rather than returning with Takeru at the first opportunity," she went on, raising another finger. "While I was here, the device hiding my magic was removed, thus making this place even more dangerous."

"Well, that wasn't…," Daisuke pointed out, but she shrugged.

"Doesn't matter," Hikari replied. "It's my fault nonetheless. Now I'm going to teleport to an even _farther_ place, again without telling anyone, and certainly without asking for permission." She sighed. "It might be best if I didn't return."

"Since when," Daisuke began again, "is it necessary to ask for permission?"

Hikari sighed again. "It's what my father would have done," she explained. "It's the way things are _supposed _to be done."

She turned toward Daisuke with a thoughtful expression. "I am my brother's responsibility," she said then, shrugging lightly, "until…."

"Until…?" he echoed, and she shrugged once more.

"Until I'm yours," she answered.

Daisuke said nothing for a long moment, apparently stunned by this statement. "Mine?" he asked, and shook his head. "What about your own?"

She leaned back, studied the stars again. "I don't know," she replied after a bit of thought. "It wasn't mentioned."

"Well," Daisuke said after a moment of his own consideration. "I've already given you back responsibility for your own safety," he recalled, "since I'm not particularly good at it."

Hikari considered this a moment, and then sat up, a thoughtful expression upon her face. "Does that mean," she wondered, "that you _don't_ expect obedience?"

He said nothing for such a long moment that Hikari wondered if he had not heard the question. She wondered if she ought to repeat herself. At long last, Daisuke said only, "What?"

"Does that mean that you don't…," she began again, and he shook his head.

"No, no, I heard what you said," he interrupted. "I don't understand. Why would I expect…obedience?"

"Well you're supposed to," she told him.

"What?" he asked again.

"You're supposed to," Hikari said again.

"Why?" he asked.

She considered a moment. "I think that the way it works is this. You ensure my safety as your responsibility…and I suppose well-being and happiness and maybe other things, too…and in return I'm supposed to be obedient."

Again, Daisuke said nothing for such a long time that she began to wonder if he had lost the power of speech. "So I was thinking that since you're giving up on safety, that maybe the other parts of it didn't count, either," she concluded then. After another moment of silence and thought, she added on, "although I suppose you would still be responsible for the well-being and happiness, and I'm not really giving much back, so maybe I _should_ still be obedient."

"What are you talking about?" Daisuke asked, apparently finally having regained the power of speech. "What…where did you get this idea?"

"Books, mostly," she replied. "I've been doing a bit of reading."

"Reading," he echoed. "Books."

"Well, it was my brother, originally," she admitted. "He said that I should ask for permission before I teleport halfway across the continent because it's the way that things are supposed to be done, and he was talking about responsibilities and safety and…."

Daisuke held up a hand, interrupting her. "This was after he slammed the door open and the picture fell on the ground?"

She thought a moment. "Yes."

He sighed heavily. "Well I disagree completely," he declared.

"You disagree?" Hikari echoed. "With what?"

"The whole thing," he replied. "It doesn't work. First of all, I can't be responsible for your safety, because I've completely failed at it every time I've tried."

"Not _every_ time," she interrupted, but he waved this aside with a shrug.

"Secondly, you can't be…obedient." He shook his head. "I don't even like that word. I can't…it would be too weird, after…the way things were."

"But that's over," Hikari reminded him, and again he waved this aside with a shrug.

"So even if I keep you safe and happy and everything, I don't want…." He paused, collected his thoughts, and went on. "I think you should do what you want, when you want. Of course, if you want to teleport across the continent at a moment's notice, I'd appreciate a note, but I don't want you to…ask me for _permission_."

Hikari nodded slowly, considering this. "That doesn't seem fair, though," she pointed out. "I mean, you're not getting anything back, then."

"Happiness," Daisuke replied simply. "The happiness is an equal exchange, isn't it?"

"I suppose so," she agreed.

"So, as long as you make me happy and I make you happy, we'll be even, right?" he concluded.

"I suppose," she replied after a moment. "I like your way of thinking better."


	37. Arrival

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Thirty-Seven: **Arrival**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie: **_Digimon,_ all related characters, merchandise, money, etc, does not belong to me. Plot does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy.

**PS:** I'm sure no one believes me, but this really is almost over. Thanks for reading.

***

The stars were shining brightly and the moon was high in the sky. In the silence of the spring night, the waves crashed against the shore, the force of them slowly taking back the land into the sea.

The beach was small, littered with rocks and shells. A short distance from the water's edge, the ground rose steeply upward, forming a tall, rocky cliff that overlooked the ocean beyond.

The grass was tall and green, sweet smelling, filled with wildflowers. There were no towns, people, or digimon around, only a few insects that buzzed amidst the blossoms. There was no sound but the wind gently rustling the grasses and the waves below continually crashing into the rocky shore.

In the midst of this empty and peaceful silence, there was a flash of light that momentarily illuminated the wide expanse of field. It faded almost immediately, vanishing into the darkness of the night. In the place where it had once been stood two people and two small digimon, each of them carrying a bag of supplies upon his or her back.

Daisuke blinked as the light faded and took in the scenery as best was possible in the dim light. Before he had taken in very much at all, however, he realized that a previously unnoticeable weight in his arms was growing much heavier.

Hikari felt her knees give out and her eyes begin to close. She leaned forward into Daisuke, sleepily gripping the fabric of his shirt with one hand. Almost immediately, he tightened his arms around her, holding her up, and she leaned into him even more, her head suddenly feeling impossibly heavy and far too difficult to hold up.

"Sorry," she mumbled sleepily, resting her head upon him now. "I'm so…."

She yawned in the midst of her words, and immediately forgot what she was trying to say. It seemed to take an enormous effort even to yawn. Moments later, she was asleep standing up.

Daisuke had been expecting this. He had been with Takeru when he had first teleported two people at once, and that was a far shorter distance. Glancing down toward the digimon, he saw that Tailmon had not wasted any time with words but curled herself into a ball in the midst of the tall grass and shut her eyes as well.

"Are we really in the Western Islands?" V-mon wondered, looking about him as Daisuke slowly lowered Hikari down to the ground. He turned and looked out toward the ocean.

"I have no idea," Daisuke replied, "since I've never been there before." He was removing the bag he'd carried on his back, and now he set it down in the grass beside him and began removing the contents. "Can you keep watch?"

V-mon looked around him and saw nothing but tall grass and wildflowers. "I can barely see over the grass," he reported, "and it's dark. If anything is sneaking up on us, we're doomed."

This was an incredibly pessimistic outlook on the situation, even if it was true. "Well, try to start a fire then," Daisuke suggested. "I'm going to set up the tent so we have some shelter in case it starts raining."

"Raining?" V-mon echoed, looking up at the stars. A few puffy clouds were gently floating overhead; nothing to suggest an approaching storm. Spring weather, though, could be unpredictable.

They had packed a bit of wood so that it would not be necessary to spend time searching for it. V-mon assembled some of it into a small pile in a relatively clear patch of space, away from the grass as much as possible. He pulled up a few more wildflowers and green stalks, making the clearing a bit larger.

Daisuke meanwhile, set up a small tent. He took a tall pole which could double as a walking stick and jammed it into the ground as securely as possible. Then he took a large piece of thick fabric and threw it over this post. A few rocks held down the edges of the fabric, making a small but serviceable tent. Within a short time he had laid down the blankets they had brought along for sleeping, and then carried Hikari inside the shelter.

V-mon had by this time managed to get a fire going, allowing for a bit more visibility. He yawned widely now and curled up beside Tailmon, whose sleeping place was not far from the warmth of the fire.

Daisuke peered out over the grassland and saw nothing but darkness and grass. He heard nothing but the wind gently rustling the grass and the waves crashing into the shore. He walked the short distance to the cliff and peered over the edge.

Below, the small beach was empty of life. Waves crashed against the shore every few moments. Across the water, there was only the dark of night. Daisuke yawned, and turned back toward the tent, intending to sleep.

***

The full moon was quite bright, illuminating the large, empty room. Footsteps echoed upon the polished marble floor as a tall man with dark hair crossed the vast space.

His shoes were boots of polished black leather that glinted in the moonlight, fastened with silvery buckles. He wore dark blue trousers of a silken fabric that seemed to shine in the darkness, and a long white coat which fell down past his knees and billowed behind him as he walked. His long, dark hair was bound in a braid which fell back behind him.

At the end of the room, he stopped, and sank down upon one knee. He remained there for a long moment, and the silence of the room stretched on.

A short distance from him, an old man sat in a high backed stone chair which looked quite similar to a throne. His digimon was not clearly visible in the darkness of the room, shaded from the brightness of the moonlight, but its eyes were large, observing the situation.

At long last, the old man stood, pushing himself up from his seat with the aid of the armrests, and stepped forward into the light of the moonlight. He had a long white beard, impeccably trimmed, and his face was lined with many of the wrinkles of age. His eyes were a sharp, pale blue. He wore a hat upon his head, a small dark blue cap beneath which spilled a few short locks of the same white hair as his beard.

He was dressed in dark red trousers and black slippers. His shirt was a slightly paler shade of red, trimmed with gold thread, fastened with gold buttons. Around his waist was a belt which would hold a sword, though the old man carried no weapons.

He spoke, finally ending the silence. A command, simple and succinct.

The younger man nodded, and touched one finger to the jewel he wore at his throat before he vanished into nothingness.

***

The sound of raindrops on the tent's roof woke Hikari with a start in the predawn light. For a moment she panicked, not recognizing her surroundings, and then she looked and saw that Daisuke was sleeping beside her.

They were in a small tent, a tall post between them acting as the center support. There was no flap to separate them from the outside world, and thus Hikari could clearly see that the grass beyond was being soaked by the rain.

V-mon and Tailmon were both curled up between them in the center of the tent. Daisuke was lying on his side, facing the exit, a blanket half-covering him. He had removed his shoes – they were squeezed into a corner of the tent – but had not otherwise changed his clothes.

Thunder rumbled overhead, gently at first, and then louder. After a moment, a flash of lightning briefly illuminated the tent's interior, sending a shiver of fear down her spine.

Perhaps sensing her partner's distress, Tailmon lifted her head, yawning, and opened one blue eye. "It's only rain," she said pragmatically, and then shut the eye once more, lowering her head.

"So it is," Hikari replied. "A storm, that's all." Slowly, she lowered herself back to the blanket she had been lying upon and let her eyes fall shut once more.

***

Midmorning, Miyako was awakened from an otherwise peaceful sleep by the sound of shouting somewhere in the house. It was a distant sound, several rooms and perhaps several floors away, but it was loud enough to awaken her, especially as it was followed by the slamming of a door.

After a moment or two another voice answered the first, equally as loud, and then the first voice responded. Hawkmon, a bit closer, mumbled crossly, "What on earth is going on?"

"I don't know," Miyako replied, rolling over in bed and pulling the covers over her head. For a few moments there was blessed silence, and then another door slamming shut once more jolted her awake.

"Some sort of tragedy, I hope," Hawkmon grumbled, rubbing his eyes, "because if it's not something serious…."

He let the end of this threat remain unspoken, and Miyako silently finished it in several entertaining ways inside her head. As sleeping was clearly impossible, she sat up reluctantly.

As the house was seriously damaged, the amount of guest rooms was severely limited. Miyako had been sharing a room with Hikari since her arrival, and she was not surprised now to find that the other bed was empty, as it was rather late in the morning already.

"That's right," she recalled, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "She was supposed to leave today." Sighing, Miyako got to her feet and yawned, stretching her arms over her head. "You'd think she would have woken me to say good-bye."

Anything Hawkmon might have said in response to this was interrupted by the sounds of further shouting in the distance, and then another door slamming shut. "It sounds," he said instead, "as though a serious disagreement is happening."

***

Having stayed up most of the night to prepare for the journey, Daisuke did not wake until nearly noon, by which time the storm had finished and the sun had reemerged. He opened his eyes to find that he was lying upon his back, peering up at the roof of the tent, which miraculously had not leaked. The inside was slightly damp, the result of the wind, but nothing was damaged.

He turned his head to the right without otherwise moving and saw that the grass was glistening with raindrops in the bright sunlight. A few small insects buzzed through the wildflowers, and a particularly colorful butterfly paused briefly on one bright flower a short distance away.

He turned his head the other direction and saw that Hikari had at some point curled up beside him. She was resting her head upon his arm and holding onto him with one hand. As he turned, she opened her eyes sleepily and blinked at him in the bright sunlight.

Perhaps she was astonished to find him awake, or perhaps she briefly mistook him for someone else, he was never quite certain. Either way, she abruptly released her hold upon him and scrambled backward. As she did so, one foot made contact with the center post of the tent, knocking it over and causing the entire structure to collapse.

Chaos reigned for a few moments. Daisuke sat up, and struggled with the tent until he managed to push it off his head and view sunlight once more. Then he crawled the rest of the way out from under the tent and pulled aside the fabric. As the outside of the tent had been quite wet from the raindrops, this had the effect of making anything that might have been considered dry now quite a bit more damp than before.

Hikari was still sitting in the spot she had been, a rather sheepish expression now upon her face. She was studying the ground and absently twisting her fingers about themselves.

"Are you all right?" Daisuke questioned, holding the tent fabric away from the space that had once been the tent. She nodded without looking up.

"Sorry," she said after a moment. "I was…I don't know."

He shrugged, carrying the tent fabric a short distance away and shaking it to remove the excess water. "Don't worry about it," he said. He gave the material one last hard shake and then began to fold it up into its previous shape for easy carrying. He turned back in time to see her getting slowly to her feet.

She was wobbly, more wobbly than she had expected, and her legs were shaking slightly. After several tries, she managed to get to her feet, only to feel them start to give out again. Daisuke, only a short distance away by this point, reached out and held her up.

"Careful. You should rest more," he said, and she shook her head immediately.

"We don't have time to rest," she replied, pushing back from him. "We have to…."

Once more, her legs wobbled and her knees gave out. Once more, Daisuke grabbed onto her. He held her right arm, slightly above the elbow, and wrapped his other arm around her waist, preventing her from falling. "It can wait," he said, "until you've had some more rest."

Hikari was quiet a long moment, and in this silence he unexpectedly pulled her closer. He removed the hand that had been holding her arm, and wrapped this around her shoulders now. Sighing, Hikari let her eyes fall shut once more and rested her head upon him.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't think I'd be this tired."

"You took us a month's journey out to sea," Daisuke replied, and with her head resting upon his chest Hikari found that she could feel the rumblings of his voice as he spoke. "I would guess that takes a bit of time to recover from."

"I suppose," she admitted, and sighed. After a moment or two, she gave in and sat down once more upon the blanket she had slept on.

As they were by now a bit damp, Tailmon and V-mon had been forced to awaken as well. The feline digimon opened her mouth wide and yawned, then stretched out as only cats are capable of. Then, with one good shake, she expelled most of the water from her fur, sending a good portion of it onto V-mon.

He, too, was yawning wide, and in the midst of such an activity when a bit of this water splashed onto him. Previously, he had been only slightly damp, but now he was a bit wetter. For a moment, he frowned his displeasure toward Tailmon, who pretended to take no notice of this, and then he gave up and started to search for something he could dry himself with.

Daisuke, meanwhile, restarted the fire that had been extinguished the previous night, setting a few dry twigs upon the pile. When he'd managed to get a decent flame burning, he rummaged in his pack for a bit of food.

"We are in the right place, right?" V-mon questioned, rubbing the top of his head with a bit of dry blanket that had miraculously escaped the rains.

Hikari looked out over the plains that surrounded them for the first time. "Is the ocean nearby?" she asked.

"That way," Tailmon informed her, gesturing with one paw toward the nearby cliff. "Keep walking straight, you can't miss it."

"I'm going to look at it," Hikari decided, once more starting to get to her feet, this time with only slightly less difficulty than before.

Daisuke looked up from his cooking adventures. He'd found a bit of dried meat and a few vegetables. There was a vaguely disapproving look in his eyes, but he said nothing, only watched.

She managed to stand with the aid of the walking stick that had once been the center post of the tent. With a few tugs, she removed it from the soft ground and used it to steady herself as she walked toward the edge of the grass.

It was only a few steps to the cliff's edge. Beyond, the ocean stretched on as far as the eye could see. A few white puffy clouds floated in the blue sky, which met the water at the horizon, a far distance away. There was nothing of interest visible in the distance.

Hikari sat down a step away from the edge, her legs not willing to hold her for much longer. "That's the ocean," she noted. "It looks so big from here."

"No boats," V-mon observed, having followed her. He raised one hand to shield the bright sunlight from his eyes, and squinted out across the water. "No land, either."

For a moment, both were silent as they contemplated the vast expanse before them. A gentle breeze blew in from the sea, carrying the smell of fish and salt water with it, a summery smell.

"How can you tell if we're in the right place or not?" V-mon wondered. "There's nothing here." He turned and looked out over the grasslands, which seemed to stretch as far as the ocean in the opposite direction.

Hikari sighed and then fell back in the tall, cool grass. "Magic," she answered. "It's the only way to know for sure. I've never heard of a teleportation spell that didn't work the way it was intended, but then I've only teleported once before, and it wasn't this far."

The smell of food cooking was now beginning to waft over the grass, mixing with the scent of the sea air. In the distance, V-mon thought he could see a few bird digimon flying over the water, but it was hard to tell what they were.

"Do Piyomon fly this far?" he wondered. "If you wanted to send a message back home, could you send a Piyomon?"

"I don't think there are many that fly that far," Daisuke answered. "I suppose if you paid one enough he might make the journey, but it's a long flight."

"They wouldn't take it all in one shot," Hikari noted. "They'd probably stop and rest on ships or on islands along the way, assuming that there were some."

"Even flying, it would take a few days, I think," Daisuke went on. "It's probably faster to use some form of magic to send a message." He shrugged. "I don't think many messages are sent this far, though."

"Those that are, are sent by magic," Hikari agreed, sitting up. "I remember my father getting a message from the Western Isles once. It came by way of a wizard. I don't remember what sort of spell they used to send it."

"The magic they use is different, too, isn't it?" Tailmon put in, looking up from her daily inspection of her claws. "It's all long, complicated poems and chanting."

"I've only seen such a spell cast three times," her partner replied. As it was a short distance back to the fire, she did not bother to get once more to her feet, but crawled across the grass toward the food.

***

Miyako had taken her time getting dressed. Curious though she was to find out the reason behind all the shouting a slamming of doors she had heard earlier, she was at the same time not particularly interested in getting in the middle of a violent argument. She took as much time as she could, but eventually it was necessary to leave the room.

She emerged into the hallway in a moment of quiet. Several minutes had passed without any sort of noise, and so Miyako wondered if she had managed to miss the excitement. She was both disappointed and relieved at this possibility.

She wandered down the hall, heading toward the nearest set of stairs leading down. As she was about to descend them, however, she noticed a bit of movement out of the corner of her eye, and turned her head down the hall.

Wormmon was sitting at the bottom of a staircase leading upward, a cautious expression clearly visible in his big eyes. Momentarily forgetting about the shouting she had heard earlier, Miyako headed toward him instead.

"Good morning," Hawkmon greeted pleasantly as his partner peered up the staircase. It had obviously been recently damaged by fire, and little had been done to repair it yet. The steps were looking rather unsafe, and the walls on either side of the narrow ascent were charred, with a large hole in one section.

"It's nearly afternoon," Wormmon noted, "but hello all the same. Are you avoiding the shouting as well?"

"Not avoiding so much as unknowing," Hawkmon replied. "What's going on down there?"

"An argument or two," Wormmon replied. "Or three."

"Between who?" Miyako wondered.

"Between who not?" he returned immediately, and sighed. "All of this could be avoided if people would simply leave behind notes when they vanish in the middle of the night. It would save so much trouble."

"It seems the considerate thing to do," Hawkmon agreed.

Miyako blinked, feeling as though she had missed some essential part of the story. "Someone vanished in the middle of the night?" she wondered.

"Some_one_, no," Wormmon answered. "Some _two._"

"Hikari," she concluded immediately, recalling the empty bed in the room earlier. "That's why she didn't wake me to say good-bye. She left last night…with Daisuke? Where did they go?"

"_That's_ the thing that's causing the shouting," the caterpillar replied with another sigh. "If you haven't any idea where they've gone, then you might want to stay out of the way."

"Is that why you're sitting here?" Hawkmon questioned, gesturing with one wing at the narrow staircase. "Hiding?"

"Oh no," Wormmon said. "I'm keeping watch in case anyone comes along who might want to do some shouting." He nodded toward the steps behind him. "Ken is investigating."

"Investigating what?" Hawkmon questioned.

Miyako didn't bother asking any further questions. She lifted the hem of her skirts and slowly, cautiously, ascended the staircase. There was a loud creak with each step she took, and the damaged wood seemed to give a bit more than usual. She avoided the gaping holes with some difficulty, and reached the top of the steps.

The room had once been a bedroom, but little remained to suggest that. A large section of the ceiling had been burned away, and bits of sunlight cascaded in from above. The rain the previous day had also done its share of damage, so that the charred floors had subsequently been soaked through.

The room had once been filled with things: with furniture and clothes and a multitude of useless gadgets. Now, all that remained were the walls, which were mere shells of themselves. Gaping holes that had never been windows provided a clear and unobstructed view of the sky beyond. Bits of charred wood here and there suggested that things had once been present, but they were all gone now.

Ken stood at the opposite side of the room from the steps, in the space where the wall should have been and a window should not. He had shut his eyes, indicating that he was not intent upon enjoying the view, and was not holding on to anything. The sunlight, which was by now coming from almost directly overhead, seemed to intensify the look of concentration upon his face.

A gentle gust of wind danced across the space, scattering small particles of dust and ash that had collected in the room. With a frustrated but quiet sigh, Ken sat opened his eyes and sat down upon the floor, letting his legs hang over the side of the building. He rubbed two fingers upon the bridge of his nose, as though experiencing a headache.

"Any luck?" Miyako asked quietly, stepping further into the room with great caution, as the floor did not seem to be particularly stable. Ken shook his head.

"You're better at this than I am," he replied with a sigh. "I don't know what I'm doing."

"_Was_," she corrected, stepping around a pile of disintegrated something, lifting the hem of her skirts over the dust. "I'm afraid you're far better than I am, now." She shrugged lightly, as though it was a matter of little concern.

"Simply _possessing _magic does not by default create skill," Ken answered, watching as she slowly crossed the room. "The wind is your element, not mine." He frowned, turned back to look out across the fields below. A few small shoots were faintly visible in the distance, between the furrowed rows of dirt, carefully cultivated.

Miyako paused at the edge of the floor, a step behind Ken. A gentle gust of wind brushed at her cheek. On the floor, a small, silvery button slid across the floor toward a pile of dust and halted at the bottom of it. She shut her eyes, listening to the sound of the wind as it blew through her ears, but did not attempt any magic.

After a moment of silence, she stepped directly behind him and placed both her hands upon his shoulders. "Let me teach you, then," she said. "Gather the magic."

Ken frowned skeptically but sighed. He shut his eyes in concentration and willed the magic to gather from inside him, to move it to the forefront of his mind where it could be manipulated. Miyako, watching, could see this as a concentration of different-colored lights swirling within his aura.

For some time now she had been performing spells with the wind, and they had become so commonly used that she scarcely thought about them in a conscious manner. Now, however, she recalled the spell as she had originally seen it written, and the hand movements it advised for the manipulation of the aura in the correct manner.

Unskilled, novice mages often used words in their spells. As they grew more adept, the words would vanish (for they were a bother to remember) and only hand movements (or occasionally other movements) would be the only manipulation required. If they were particularly skilled, wizards could perform complex spells with thoughts alone.

Although she was far from the level of a skilled wizard, Miyako had used the spells of the wind so often that she could manipulate them easily without words or movements. Recalling the movements required a search within her memories, but she managed somehow, and related them to Ken.

His movements were more fumbling than hers, as he was not quite so familiar with them, but they managed, somehow, to produce the desired effects. Miyako watched with an outsider's eyes as the magic embedded within the aura whipped the wind into a frenzy. Soon, powerful bursts of wind were blasting through the half-open room, sending up a haze of dust and ash debris. She raised one hand to shield her eyes from the tiny particles, and to move her hair out of her face. Her skirts were waving wildly in the wind.

Ken almost had to shout to be heard over the roar of the breeze. "Now what?" he asked, and Miyako pulled a lock of hair out of her mouth to answer.

"Pick a direction!" she replied. "Direct it somewhere."

"Where?" he asked.

"Wherever you think you might be likely to find them."

He considered. "Koushiro is already searching to the North," he reported, "and he said that he could not sense them within the borders of Yagami. South is only the ocean. East or West?"

"There's nothing to the East but desert!" Miyako answered; they both knew this well. "To the West is oceans!"

"And islands," Ken recalled. "Could they have gone toward those?"

"Anything's possible," she admitted. "Turn your thoughts in that direction, direct the magic that way."

She was shouting now in order to hear herself. The wind was blowing through her ears so loudly that she would have heard nothing if a man in full, clanking metal armor had trod up the creaky stairs behind her and raised his sword to attack.

The wind's power lessened somewhat. It was no longer blowing in every direction at once, but only in one, toward the West. Miyako turned her head into the wind and called further instructions.

"Ordinarily, I'd say it'd be best to seek Hikari, since she has magic. It was her magic that teleported them, so we know she's used it, and a lot of it if they've gone to the islands. I don't know if the wind spell can reach that far. I've never searched outside the boundaries of the kingdom."

"We'll find out," Ken replied, shouting now over the sound of the wind. He had not opened his eyes since beginning the spell, and now he squeezed them tighter shut as he concentrated.

"It might be better if you searched for Daisuke," Miyako went on. "Since you know him better. I warn you though, it'll be hard to find him with magic."

The wind was roaring loudly in her ears, and for a long moment, Miyako enjoyed the silence in the volume. She let her eyes fall shut.

Within the wind was information, carried by magic, by dust and particle. The breeze reached the ocean in short order, as it was relatively close, and continued speeding across the waves, not wavering in its intensity. As she could still _feel _and _see_ magic, Miyako felt this through the breeze and knew that clouds were gathering over the coastline, that a boat filled with fisherman was anchored a short distance out, and that a ship with mages bound for the Sanctuary Island was even further. She wondered if any of them sensed that the wind was magically created.

Suddenly, and without warning, the wind vanished. Small bits of debris that had been hovering in midair dropped instantly to the ground. A quiet sort of clatter sounded for a brief moment. Ken leaned forward, and placed one hand upon his forehead.

"I can't make it go any farther," he said, voice sounding tired.

Miyako dropped to her knees beside him, holding him up in case he should fall too far forward and plummet from the building. Their partners were still at the bottom of the steps, and she was still without magic, so a fall would be quite damaging. "It's a tiring spell," she recalled. "You held it for longer than expected."

He nodded, silent for a moment as he considered her words and tried to regain a bit of his strength. "Do you think you could reach the Islands?" he asked after a moment.

"I've never tried," she answered. "I don't know. You got at least as far as the Sanctuary Island, and that's a few days journey out to sea. I doubt they went there, though."

Ken shook his head. "No," he agreed. "They're farther. Much farther."

"In any case," Miyako said with a sigh, "I haven't got enough to reach as far as the ground." She smiled, but it was a rather weak smile. "I suppose that if Daisuke and Hikari really did go to the Western Isles, the only way to find out for sure would be to follow them."


	38. Defenses

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Thirty-Eight: **Defenses**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, etc, etc, is not mine. Plot is. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy!

***

The sunset over the ocean was an awe inspiring sight. Bright pinks and deep, saturated purples painted the sky as the deep orange ball sank into the sea. A gentle but steady breeze blew over the ocean, scattering grass and leaves out to sea.

Daisuke paused in his steps and turned to face the sight. The wind blew past his ears, whispering the sounds of spring and evening. Below, the waves continued to beat the shore relentlessly. A few insects buzzed through the flowers nearby.

They had walked all day, pausing frequently for breaks and taking it rather slowly, heading north along the coast. Although a few digimon had occasionally been visible in the distance, there had been no further sign of inhabitants on this island, and no hint of human presence. They had seen a Piyomon fly overhead, too intent upon his journey to notice their presence. Monochromon grazed in the distance, along with a few other digimon that were too far away to easily be distinguished.

A few steps away, Hikari also stopped, having noticed the pause. She glanced back toward Daisuke and noted his gaze, heading out toward the sea. For a few moments, both stood and took in the scene.

"It's beautiful," Hikari said after a bit of time had passed.

"Hmm," he agreed. After a moment, he looked toward her. "We've been gone almost a whole day now."

She nodded. "I wonder if they've made any progress in searching for us. I wonder if they've any idea where we've gone."

"I don't think so," Daisuke replied in answer to both questions.

"We're so far away," Hikari noted. "I wonder if magic can even sense us this far. I've never been this far, I'm sure they haven't even thought to try to look here."

V-mon yawned widely and sat down in the tall grass. "Are we going to eat soon?" he wanted to know. "I'm hungry."

"Are you ever _not_ hungry?" Daisuke retorted immediately, to which his partner took no notice.

Hikari turned her gaze from the ocean, once more northward. "We've still a long way to go," she said with a sigh, "but it's getting late. I suppose we should rest."

"And eat," V-mon put in unnecessarily.

"Camp it is," Daisuke agreed, setting down his pack. In the midst of rummaging through it, a thought occurred to him, and he looked up. "Where exactly are we headed?"

Hikari turned back toward him, setting down her own bag. She sat down in the grass, a thoughtful expression upon her face. "I think it's a castle," she replied, "to the north of here."

"How much further?" V-mon wanted to know.

"I'm not sure," she answered, turning back toward the north. "Maybe a half a day's walk more."

"A castle?" Daisuke echoed, and frowned a moment, trying to recall the limited information he knew about the Western Isles. "The Emperor of the Islands lives on Lu Island, isn't he?"

Hikari nodded. "In the Imperial Palace."

"So what's this castle we're going to?" he wondered.

***

"The West?" Koushiro echoed. He raised one eyebrow in a skeptical but curious expression. "Why?"

"I'm not sure," Miyako confessed, "but we've exhausted other options. You haven't sensed them within the borders, or in the North. There's nothing to the East but desert."

"And there's nothing to the West but the sea," Tentomon pointed out.

"There are Islands," she replied. "They're far, but they exist."

"They're far enough that it would explain why it hasn't been easy to trace the teleportation," the wizard conceded. He sighed, frowned in thought, and rubbed his chin with one hand.

They were standing in a half-destroyed room at the end of the undamaged hallway. It had once been a small but comfortable study with a few overstuffed armchairs, but the fire had singed the fabric of the chairs to a darkened version of their previous state, and the paint had peeled from the walls.

Miyako had waited until Koushiro was not otherwise occupied – a rather long wait indeed. He had spent much of the day in a magical trance of some sort or other, trying to sense where it was that Hikari and Daisuke had gone. When he had not been searching, he had been engaging in debate about where to search next.

Over the course of the day, Taichi had slowly begun to transform from outraged to angry to mildly irritated. Finally, with the setting sun, he was beginning to slip into a resigned sort of hopelessness. Yamato had been trying but mostly failing to talk him out of any of these moods.

Jun, on the other hand, had remained in a state of stunned silence since that morning. She contributed neither insight nor ideas to the debate, and had spoken only a few words at a time. Occasionally it seemed as though she might burst into tears in front of everyone, and had only barely managed to rein them in.

Now, with the sun having set and the quiet calm of evening descending over the chaotic house, Miyako had pulled the wizard into an unoccupied room and stated her theory without preamble.

"I fail to understand how traveling so far would accomplish much of anything," Koushiro confessed. Feeling tired after a long day of much magic use, he sank into a half-destroyed armchair with a sigh. "If Otonashi _did_ survive, and it _is _his descendants that have been responsible for everything that's happened, there's no evidence that he or his children traveled west."

"There's very little evidence he existed at all," Miyako pointed out. "Even looking through ancient volumes, even_ knowing_ what you were looking for, have you found much about him?"

Koushiro shook his head. "No," he admitted. "It seems the First King did much to erase his existence from the historical records. He's only mentioned when it's absolutely necessary, and then no details are given."

"What _does_ it say about him?" she wondered.

He shrugged. "Only that he fought for the King and then defected. Most books identify him as a dark wizard who succumbed to the temptations of the mysterious Shadow World. It doesn't give much details on this, and his children aren't mentioned at all."

Miyako considered this for a few moments. "Is it possible that Hikari's information was incorrect?" she wondered.

Again the wizard shrugged. "I suppose," he replied, "but, not knowing her source of information, I cannot say for certain. She never did say where it was she got it from."

"No," Miyako agreed, frowning in thought. "Only that it was from someone who helped her in the North. I have no idea who that might be. Certainly I don't remember meeting any historians when we were there."

"Well," Koushiro said after a bit of further consideration, "I suppose it cannot hurt to search. I've exhausted nearly all other possibilities. When you've tried every plausible option, the option remaining must be the truth, even if it makes no sense." He sighed again and got to his feet.

"Thank you," Miyako said in appreciation. "If she's acting on information that's incorrect, they might be in more danger than before."

He nodded solemnly and turned to leave. As he reached for the door, however, he paused and turned back toward her with a thoughtful expression. For a moment, it seemed as though he might say something, but then he shook his head and left the room instead.

***

The moon was bright overhead, the stars clearly visible in the cloudless sky. Warm spring breezes, cooled with the salty scent of the ocean, danced across the grasslands and rustled the wildflowers, sending the sweet smell into the air to mix with the salt.

The fire was small, as there wasn't much to burn aside from the grasses. A small teapot sat amidst the flames, burbling slightly as its contents neared the boiling point. Steam began to emerge from the spout, and then more steam.

Hikari, one hand wrapped in a soft cloth, lifted the pot from the fire, calming the bubbles within. She poured a bit of the hot water into two small mugs set in the ground nearby, and then set the teapot down near the fire. Then she lifted one of the mugs and handed it across the fire.

The tea was still too hot to drink, so Daisuke set it down on the ground in front of him to let it cool. He had set up the small tent already, but it didn't seem as though they needed to fear rain that night. "A half-day's walk," he mumbled absently, and plucked a stalk of grass from the ground.

"I think so," Hikari agreed. "Maybe longer."

"What will we find when we get there?" he asked. "Do we have any chance?"

"I don't know," she replied in answer to both questions, and sighed. "I think we'll find an old man and many minions, magically created if Miyako's theory is correct."

"Teleporting, magically created minions," Daisuke concluded. He lifted his mug, blew a cooling breath across the top, and tested a sip of it. Finding it still too hot, he set it down once more. "Do we have any chance against teleporting, magically created minions?"

Hikari frowned in his direction. "I should hope so," she replied. "Otherwise, there wasn't much point to coming here, was there?"

Daisuke took a hesitant sip of tea and considered this. "One way or the other," he replied, "it will end."

***

The sunrise was clearly visible without the hindrance of walls, Ken noted when he reached the top of the steps. The great orange orb of the sun was rising slowly over distant hills and trees, slowly bathing the village in light and warmth. The room itself was still mostly in cool shadows, as yet untouched by the sun.

He crossed the room and paused briefly before the edge, where the floor vanished and the sky began. Turning his head from side to side, it was possible to clearly see all of the surrounding lands. In one direction, the field workers strode out to their work. Though the planting had finally been completed, the sprouts would need tending on a daily basis. In the village, a few people milled about on the streets, going from place to place.

Wormmon, who had followed his partner up the steps and into this damaged section of building, was thinking more practically, and looking down toward the ground, far below, with an apprehensive expression. He glanced periodically back toward Ken's feet, to make sure he was not straying too near to the edge.

"Are you going to try the magic again?" the caterpillar digimon questioned, looking up toward his partner. "Is that why you came up here?"

"I don't know," Ken replied with a frustrated sigh. "I don't know if it would do any good. If the wind spell can't reach the Western Islands…." He shrugged, absently folded his arms across his chest. "I don't understand why they didn't _tell_ someone where they were going."

Wormmon considered this question for a few moments. "Maybe they thought you would try to stop them?" he suggested.

He snorted briefly in disbelief. "As though he'd have listened if I had."

Wormmon shrugged, looked down at the ground below once more. He watched in silence as a solitary young woman came out of the door leading from the kitchens and headed toward the stream behind the house, empty bucket in hand. Her partner, a sleepy-looking Terriermon, followed behind her with her own bucket, rubbing at her eyes as she walked.

In the distant sky, a group of four or five Piyomon flew together, cheerfully riding the cool breezes, chirping to each other as they soared, worries and cares momentarily forgotten. A few white, puffy clouds floated lazily in the expansive sky.

The temperature grew briefly colder, though no wind blew and the sun's light was unobstructed. Ken unfolded his arms and raised his eyes from his contemplation of his shoes. He took a small step back from the edge, and turned his gaze to the inside of the room.

"Something wrong?" Wormmon asked, looking up as well at the sound of his partner's footstep.

Ken frowned and shut his eyes briefly. He took a deep breath, appearing to be thinking about something with great intensity, and then he suddenly opened his eyes. "Magic!" he said then. "Somewhere nearby."

A shout below interrupted whatever further words might have been said, and Wormmon turned his head toward the sound. Ken took several steps forward and paused at the edge.

Below, they could see that a half-dozen men had appeared, dressed entirely in black, each carrying a sword upon his back. Two of them had removed their swords from their sheaths and were holding them before them, in the direction of the girl and her Terriermon. The young woman was holding the bucket of water close to her chest, and the Terriermon, forgetting her own bucket, moved in between the girl and the sword, protecting her partner.

Ken didn't waste time with words. Ignoring the fact that he currently wore no weapon and did not have the ability to fly, he took two steps forward, off the edge of the building, and began to fall toward the ground. Wormmon squeaked a brief cry of surprise.

A bright light briefly filled the space, and then there came the sound of a voice shouting. "Wormmon evolve! Stingmon!"

A rather short distance from the ground, Stingmon succeeded in grabbing hold of his partner by the wrist, thus saving him from death or at least quite a bit of injury and pain. Still ignoring the fact that he had no weapon, Ken started for the swordsmen nearby.

The girl had managed to remain unharmed so far. She'd backed away from the swordsmen, holding the bucket up like a shield. Her Terriermon had called up a mini whirlwind of dust and debris, discouraging the attackers from moving closer. It was clear, however, that the digimon would not be effective for very long.

Stingmon flew toward the swordsmen at a low elevation, even with his partner's head. Noticing his presence only at the last moment, those who had not previously unsheathed their weapons did so now. One swung at the flying digimon as he approached, but his blade glanced off the tough skin without so much as a scratch. Two of the swordsmen vanished, teleporting with a brief flash of light, and two others successfully avoided their attacker, but the other two received the full brunt of the charge as Stingmon collided with them. One of them fell back into the ground, apparently disabled, and the other teleported before he could collide.

The two swordsmen who had previously vanished (or perhaps two different ones, as it was impossible to distinguish between them) now reappeared in the air behind Stingmon, swords at the ready. One blade connected solidly with the arm of the bug digimon, the other with a section of his torso. This time, they cut small scratches into his skin before they vanished once more.

While this had been happening, Ken had reached the girl and the Terriermon who had been attacked. After assuring him that they were thus far unharmed, both followed his instructions and returned to the house with all speed.

Noting the disabled swordsmen, a short distance away, Ken approached him with caution. Though apparently injured, the man made no sound, appearing to be neither alive nor dead. He still clutched his sword in one hand, and the teleportation crystal was visible around his neck. As he seemed to have no further use for his weapon, Ken pried it easily from his grip.

When he had done so, the swordsman vanished. Not with the flash of light that would indicate teleportation, nor with the graduation of the deletion of a digimon, but with an instantaneous disappearance that seemed to suggest he had only ever been an illusion. Ken recalled what Miyako had said about them being made of magic, and wondered if the swords were the only parts that were real.

There was little time for speculation and deep thoughts however. In the absence of any other victim (and sensing their uselessness against Stingmon), four swordsmen immediately appeared in a circle around Ken. They studied him for a brief moment, and he flexed his hand around the sword's grip. It was not a weapon he was used to, but it would work, he thought.

Then, all four swordsmen lunged in precisely the same instant. Instinctively, Ken raised his sword to block the blow of the one directly in front of him, and then ducked his head to avoid the other three blades. The swordsman whose blade he had met vanished instantly, and the one to his left attacked. Ken turned quickly to block this second blow, and then spun quickly to halt a third attack from the right. The fourth attacker swung his sword wide, and Ken stepped forward to avoid this. The sharp point of the blade sliced a slit through the back of his shirt, but miraculously made no contact with his skin.

"Ken!" came the shout of Stingmon, seeing his partner's situation. He broke away from his remaining opponent and flew into the center of the battle, scattering the swordsmen. Ken took two steps toward the nearest enemy and sliced his blade through the swordsman's torso. There was no expression upon the face of the man as he sat down. Ken stepped forward and removed took the sword from his hand before he could recover, and the swordsman disappeared as the last one did.

"So long as they haven't got their swords," Ken thought aloud, and then turned quickly to defend against two further attackers.

He raised both the swords he carried now, crossing them in front of him, and both of the enemy blades clanked loudly upon his own. The swordsmen vanished, and then reappeared, one upon either side of him. Ken turned toward his right, attacking that one, but even with two swords it was not easy to battle two opponents at once. He sidestepped with barely enough time to avoid the blade at his back, and another slice slipped through the fabric of his shirt.

This time, he thought, it might have made contact with his skin. Fighting multiple enemies was hard enough, but teleportation on top of it made it rather difficult to determine where attacks would come from. Taking a deep breath, Ken stepped forward and swung both swords in a wide arc, thrusting aside the opponent in front of him, then turning slightly to the side so that the other blade made contact with the other swordsman.

A loud growl of annoyance pierced the quiet morning silence, and then a blue and white blur dived into the crowd of swordsmen, which had steadily grown larger despite the loss of several members. With sharp teeth and large claws, Garurumon batted aside two of the fighters, and then took a third in his teeth and shook briefly before tossing this one aside as well. It was a gruesome scene, even with the knowledge that the swordsmen were not living creatures. The fighters that Garurumon defeated laid still and silent upon the ground.

Ken heard a grunt nearby and the clack of sword upon sword, and saw with little surprise that Yamato had dived into the fray beside his partner. With the ferocity of one with the heart of a fighter, Yamato swung his sword with great skill and not a little rage, slicing through another swordsman even as two more leapt to attack him.

"It seems as though they're serious this time," he commented to Ken by way of greeting. A grin was upon his face as he briefly glanced in his ally's direction.

Ken nodded, part in agreement and part in greeting. "Let's hope you fair better than last time," he added with a cautionary tone, recalling the last time he and Yamato had fought together against this enemy.

Yamato snorted a brief laugh and spun quickly to face another attacker. "Last time they caught me off guard," he replied easily. "This time they won't be so lucky." He took a step forward, slicing his sword through the air in a downward arc, gripped in both hands. The muscles of his arms had developed over the years of intense training at the art of sword-fighting, and the blade of the swordsman nearly cracked at the force of his blow. Without giving his enemy time to recover, he drew back his sword, and then thrust it forward, still clutching the grip in both hands. The tip of the blade slid easily into his opponent's stomach, and the sword clattered to the ground an instant before the man vanished into nothingness.

Taken aback, Yamato almost did not recover in time to block the next attack, and had to take a step backward as a swordsman came toward him from the side. "What the hell?" he said aloud.

"They aren't real," Ken said in response, taking no time to look away from his own task. "They're made of magic. It seems the swords are the only things that are real, and if you take them, the magic vanishes."

Yamato thought about this as he sliced through another swordsmen, damaging it but not badly enough to eliminate him. "And the crystals?" he questioned. "They're real too, aren't they?"

"They must be," Ken replied after a moment. "They work."

"So maybe," Yamato suggested, and stabbed another swordsman neatly in the torso with a clean forward thrust. He paused for breath a brief moment before his next attacker came. "The magic is connected or something?"

"Connected?" Ken echoed. He found himself breathing heavily now. Sweat was falling from his forehead in multiple streams, and his arms were growing tired. Dimly, he wondered how long they would be able to defend themselves from the swordsmen; how long they would need to.

"Like maybe," Yamato continued, "the spell that created them," he paused for breath, stepping back from a sword's swing, "and the teleportation spell," he swung back, meeting the blade of his opponent, "are the same thing?"

Ken shook his head. "No, teleportation spells are different from any spells that might create illusions," he answered. "Illusionary spells can't be aided by teleportation crystals, the pathways would need to be completely different."

"Well then, why do they vanish when you take their swords?" Yamato demanded.

The answer did not come right away, for Ken was momentarily preoccupied with a duo of swordsmen attacking from either side. Even with two swords, defending against both of them did not allow much time for conversation. He defeated the first with ease and then struck out the other blade, raising it briefly to eye level. As he did, the light of the rising sun briefly glinted off something embedded in the handle of the sword.


	39. The Silent Castle At The Edge Of The Sea

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Thirty-Nine: **The Silent Castle At The Edge Of The Sea**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon,_ money, characters, theme songs, etc, is not mine. Plot of this story is. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy

****

Shortly before noon, they reached the building that had been looming in the distance since early that morning. At first, it was hazy and barely visible in the morning fog, but as they walked closer, it became more clear.

It was a tall castle, built entirely of stones, large stones laid upon stones until they towered quite high into the sky. It rested upon the edge of the land, so that to exit on the eastern side would have meant to walk directly off the cliff and into the ocean.

A tall outer wall surrounded the building on the other three sides, as thick as three men, with only a single gate on the western side allowing entrance. Beyond this wall several towers could be seen, rising high over the wall and allowing anyone within the castle to see visitors approaching from quite some distance away.

Daisuke, Hikari, and their digimon had not been following any road or path, but walking along the coastline, keeping near to the cliff's edge. The grassland, empty and silent, extended toward the castle and beyond, but a road could be seen meandering through this from the west. It was not a well-traveled road, for grass had begun to reclaim the edges and poke up through the cobblestones, but it was a road nonetheless.

They walked to the road and stood a short distance from the gate, peering up at the building. The gate was as wide as a dozen men, and rose the height of the wall. It was built of solid wood, reinforced by metal beams within the frame, attached with half-rusted iron hinges.

"I feel magic inside," Hikari said after a long moment of silence. "I think this is the right place."

Daisuke took a deep breath and nodded. "I think so too," he agreed, but said nothing more.

After a moment more had passed, V-mon spoke up. "How do we get inside?" he wanted to know. "I don't think we're going to be able to open the door without a few problems."

"Well, we'll find a way in," Daisuke replied with a determined expression. He tugged at the pack he carried on his back, adjusting its weight, and took several steps forward. After a moment, the others followed.

Three steps from the gate, there was a loud creaking noise, and the hinges began to move. Slowly, the massive door slid open, one side moving inward. A cool breeze, heavy with the scent of the salty sea, danced across the space.

"Something's coming," Hikari said then, and a moment after that, four silent figures appeared in the space between the door and the visitors.

They were dressed, as the swordsmen had been, entirely in black, but in robes rather than in clothing suitable for fighting. The robes stretched to the floor and hoods hung over faces, obscuring their true natures. Each wore a long chain about its neck, and at the end of the chain was a bright blue stone that glinted in the sunlight.

"They don't look like fighters," Tailmon noted in a quiet voice, and absently twitched her tail and flexed her claws. "I could probably…."

But these figures made no attempt to dissuade their entrance; in fact, they seemed to have come in order to assist. They moved aside, two to each side of the path on either side of the gate, and bowed low as might be done with a visitor of importance.

Daisuke hesitated only briefly, glancing toward Hikari, who met his gaze and nodded. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for whatever was to come, and walked between the shadows, through the gate.

Beyond the wall, a courtyard stretched for perhaps a hundred steps in the space before the main building. The grass here had not been well tended, for it was as high as on the plains outside. Wildflowers mixed in with the blades, splashing color amidst the green. A tree was planted on either side of the building in what had been intended as a symmetrical landscaping touch. One of the trees was healthy, filled with new leaves and a few pale pink and lavender blossoms. The other, however, was dead, and its branches were completely empty of life. A path built of the same gray stones as the castle and the outer wall stretched across the grass to the main entrance.

"No one lives here," Hikari said aloud, her voice sounding strangely loud in the quiet of the space. She turned back toward the gate in time to note the four shadowy figures pulling it shut behind them. "They're made of magic, too."

Daisuke shook his head. "There has to be someone real behind it, doesn't there?" he questioned, and was surprised to see there was a bit of hesitancy in her eyes.

"Maybe not," she replied. "If Otonashi really did intend revenge on Motomiya hundreds of years ago, maybe he constructed magic that kept on working even now."

"So you think maybe the old man you saw was made of magic, too?" he asked. "And that other swordsman, the one who seemed to lead the others? He seemed real to me."

"So did the rest of them," Hikari reminded him. She gestured toward the shadows, who had moved away from the gate and onto the path ahead of them, apparently waiting for the visitors to follow. "So do they."

Daisuke frowned suspiciously toward the shadow-men. "They have no faces," he noted as he moved to follow their guides. "Nor did the swordsmen. Did you see a face on the old man in your dreams?"

Hikari considered for a moment as they walked, recalling the images in her dream. Their footsteps sounded loud in the silence, and it was only then that she realized that the shadow-men did not make noise when they moved. "I did," she said when they were halfway across the courtyard. "He had long, white hair and a beard, and pale blue eyes."

"Then he should be real, too," Daisuke decided.

They reached the opposite end of the courtyard and climbed a set of stairs that led to another tall, sturdy set of doors. The shadows opened the door with little difficulty and again stepped aside to allow the visitors to pass through first.

The space was huge, a tall ceiling stretching upward for what seemed like forever, culminating at some point far in the distance. Several chandeliers hung from various cross-beams, each filled with perhaps fifty candles. None had been lit, as the sun was streaming in from bright, stained glass windows, each tinted a brilliant shade of blue, with an occasional spot of red.

The floor was made of a polished stone, so well tended that it was quite easy to see one's reflection within. The far wall was quite far away, and the inside space was easily four times as long as the courtyard outside. Along the outer walls, dozens of the shadow-men stood in silent witness to the room, each one the same as the last. All were dressed in long black robes and hoods, a bright blue gem around the neck, the same shade as the windows above them.

"What _is_ this place?" V-mon wondered, for there seemed to be no other rooms but this one in the space.

"I don't know," Hikari replied, and Daisuke shook his head in silence.

The room, huge as it was, held almost nothing. No couches, chairs, benches, or tables. No cabinets or shelves to store essential objects. No small items of any sort. There was no fireplace nor stove, nothing which would have contributed to the necessities of daily life.

Two of the shadow men that had been their guides took up positions before the doors, as though awaiting the command of anyone else who might wish to pass through them. The other two moved into the room and began the long march to the far wall.

The far wall held the only piece of furniture in the room, a tall, stone chair. Beside it stood the swordsman, dressed in a long white coat tied around him at the waist, a Gazimon at his feet. The Gazimon had a fierce expression upon his face, anger in his eyes. His ears were tense, his paws clenched into fists. The swordsman, however, showed no emotion in his eyes, but simply stood, silently and dispassionately observing the situation.

Within the stone chair sat a man. He wore a long tunic of the same bright blue as the windows, secured around his waist with a black leather sword belt, though there was no weapon, nor sheath in the strap which was designed to hold such a thing. His trousers were loose-fitting, a darker shade of blue, and his shoes were not sturdy boots, but flimsy slippers, suitable for walking about a house and ordering servants, but not for anything else.

Around his neck he wore a chain similar to the ones that the shadow-servants wore. Instead of a simple blue stone, however, there was instead a golden, interwoven circlet, the metal seeming to curve about itself. Imbedded in the metal were three stones, one the same blue as the shadow-servants wore, one the same red as the teleportation crystals, and the third a dark black stone.

The stone chair was set upon a platform, accessible by a few short, wide steps. Two steps from this platform, the shadow-servants bowed briefly, and then moved, backward-facing, toward the lines along the wall, and took their places amongst the others.

There was silence for a long moment, and no one spoke. Then, the old man's lips curved into an amused smile. "You came, eh?" he said, his voice quiet and raspy, tired sounding. "Do you intend to break the curse?"

Daisuke glanced briefly toward Hikari, who met his gaze with a similar expression of hesitant confusion as he felt. "Who are you?" he asked.

"If you can beat him," the old man replied, not answering the question any more than his own had been answered, "you can have your answers." He nodded toward the swordsman standing beside him.

Before Daisuke could agree or disagree with this plan, the swordsman pulled the sword from his back. He took two quick steps to the edge of the dais, then leapt into the air, vanishing as he did so. A second later, he reappeared in the space directly above Daisuke, who had barely gotten his hand to his sword hilt and now hastily drew his weapon as he sidestepped the attack.

His opponent, however, turned quickly, and brought his blade down. The sound of metal on metal echoed in the silent chamber as the swords met. Then, before Daisuke could attack, the swordsman vanished, only to reappear behind him.

Daisuke felt a quiet rush of air and saw the light flash out of the corner of his eye a split second before the swordsman reappeared. He turned quickly, barely avoiding a swipe of the sword's blade, and swung his own weapon, narrowly missing his opponent as he sidestepped the attack.

"Daisuke!" V-mon shouted, and took two steps forward, toward his partner. A gray blur of fur, launched from the platform's steps, rammed into the blue digimon, and before long the two digimon were tangled so tightly in their fight that it was difficult to distinguish where one ended and the next began.

***

A furious pounding of quick knocks upon her door woke Miyako in mid-morning, and she was only sitting up, rubbing her eyes, when a young girl's head poked into the room.

"Sorry Milady," she apologized, "but they said you must come quickly, there are swordsmen!"

"Swordsmen?" Miyako echoed, coming awake at this word. She pulled on a robe she had left near her bed, and slipped her feet into slippers, but there was no time to further dress before she felt the first ripple of magic in the hall beyond. A half-second later, she heard the scream of the girl who had come to wake her.

Miyako threw open the door and saw that four swordsmen had appeared in the hall, each with weapons drawn. Two were advancing upon the girl, who had flattened herself up against the wall, eyes wide with shock, and the other two were already moving down the hall in another direction.

Without thinking, without hesitation, Miyako stretched out her left arm, spread her fingers wide, and summoned a spark of flame. The swordsmen lifted their heads, perhaps sensing a more viable opponent, or perhaps detecting this bit of magic.

"Get inside," Miyako told the girl, stepping aside, and she immediately rushed in to the room, her Lopmon partner quickly following after. Miyako took another step into the hall, paying no heed to the fact that it was taking nearly all her strength to maintain this tiny bit of flame.

"Miyako…," Hawkmon said in warning, but she ignored him as she usually did, and summoned a bit more magic, increasing the flame.

The swordsmen were losing fear of her. They turned toward her, each one raising his sword. One moved slightly to one side, gradually heading around to attack from the side while his comrade attacked head on.

Miyako twisted her wrist so that the flame was no longer floating above her palm but hovering in front of her hand. She raised her right arm over her head and then brought it down sharply.

A wind which was neither a blast nor a gentle breeze came suddenly from somewhere behind her, rushing past the swordsman and igniting the flame into action. The flames, though small, danced through the breezes and made contact with the swordsman directly in front of her. The fabrics of his clothing caught on fire, and he rapidly began to burn.

There was still the matter of the second swordsman, though, and she had not forgotten about him. Miyako turned to face him, and raised both her arms, crossed, in front of her in preparation of a quick but sturdy defensive shield. Her vision grew blurry at that moment, though, and her legs felt suddenly weak. She stumbled backward.

"Miyako!" Hawkmon called in alarm, and took to the air. "Feather Slash!" he called, plucking a feather from his head. It spun through the air, growing sharper, and sliced through the arm of the swordsman.

"Blazing Ice!" shouted the Lopmon partner of the girl, and tiny icicles battered the body of the attacker.

"We need to escape," Hawkmon said to his partner even as the servant girl helped her into the room, her legs rather wobbly.

"Escape to where?" the girl questioned. "There's no other exit from this room but the window!"

"The window will have to do, then," Miyako replied. She shook her head to clear it, blinked away her blurry vision, and crossed the small bedroom, flinging open the window. "Let's go, Hawkmon."

He called one last, quick "Feather Slash!" before flapping quickly into the room, leaving Lopmon to cover their escape. A brief flash of light momentarily filled the room as, a short distance out the window, Hawkmon shouted out his evolution.

"Don't worry, it's safe," Miyako said to the girl, and helped her aboard the back of the hovering bird. "We'll get you to the ground as soon as possible."

She was wide-eyed, obviously fearful, but nodded, maintaining a firm grip upon the feathers of Aquilamon. Miyako climbed after her with much more practice, and the bird digimon slowly began to descend.

"Lopmon!" the girl called to her partner, and the small digimon hurriedly ran across the room and leapt out the open window. For a moment, she soared through the air, and then landed neatly in her partner's arms. Looking back, they could see the swordsman they had escaped standing in the window, looking a bit battered but far from defeated, watching them fly. Then, in an instant, he was gone.

***

Hikari took a step forward, intending to assist, only to find that something blocked her way. She saw the odd reflection of sunlight upon nothing, and her hand made contact with something solid. Turning her head, she saw that barely visible magical walls surrounded her on three sides, like a triangle.

She looked toward the old man, who was observing the swordfight with the mild interest of a spectator who has seen many such fights and does not expect anything interesting to come of this latest event.

The clash of metal upon the stone floor distracted Hikari from the old man, and she turned back to the battle in time to see the sword of the long-haired man pull away from the marble column that it had connected with instead of its intended target, as Daisuke had apparently narrowly dodged. He now swung his weapon, and might have connected with the swordsman if he did not teleport away at the last moment, which he did.

Hikari reached forward, her hand once more making contact with something solid and invisible. She pressed up against it with both hands, testing its strength.

"It's best," said the old man then, startling her with the sound of his voice, "if you don't interfere."

"So you can kill him?" she retorted. "How can he win, when your swordsman is not fighting fair?"

The old man didn't answer immediately, and so Hikari pushed harder against the invisible wall, summoning a bit of her magic to aid her. She could sense the structure of the magic, the way the strands of energy, braided and twisted to form thick columns, were woven between each other. Unlike the magic used to form temporary shields, this was a much more sturdy form of energy, and did not require the draining of the caster to maintain it.

Again the sound of metal upon stone caused her to turn her head toward the battle, and she saw that again the swordsman's blade was clashing with a stone column. Daisuke ducked, narrowly avoiding the blade, which might have made contact with his neck if he had not, and the swordsman vanished, only to reappear an instant later, attacking from the opposite side. Once more Daisuke, dodged, this time to the side, but he was not quite so quick this time, and the blade sliced through his right sleeve, cutting a line into the skin of his arm.

Hikari was dimly aware that she gasped aloud, and might have called out if there was not the chance it would distract him, leading to further injury. She pushed harder upon the barrier, and summoned a bit more of her magic. She could feel the strand of energy nearest her hand begin to give, slightly, though it was far from breaking.

"Is it possible," Tailmon wondered aloud, "that I could cut through it?" She held up one sharp claw and studied it experimentally. Then, she took a step forward, and pressed her paws up against the invisible wall. For a moment, she merely pushed, testing its strength, and then she flexed her claws and dug them into the magic itself.

If it had any immediate effect Hikari did not know, as she could not see the magic, and she did not sense anything. The idea of it seemed to give Tailmon a bit of hope and motivation, though, and so the feline digimon continued to scratch and claw at the invisible barrier.

***

**A note:** Thanks to everyone who has continued reading this story and this universe, and I hope you've enjoyed at least some parts of the experience. There are two chapters remaining in this long-winded story, (although I might tack on an epilogue…), so stick around.

The next few chapters will probably be the last few things I post to this website. It's been fun, but I'm not interested in branching out to other fandoms, and I don't think that I have a big enough readership that anyone will miss me if I don't continue to post.

That's not to say that I'm not going to keep writing things, because I most definitely will. If you've read this far (or farther) and haven't clawed your eyes out with disgust, I invite you to read other things I've written. I'll probably keep writing things in this universe, though not on a regular basis, because I still have some stories to tell in my head. You can find all that stuff at , as well as anything I might write in the future.

Thanks again for all your support.


	40. Battling

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Forty: **Battling**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all related characters, money, etc, does not belong to me. Plot does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

**Additional Note:** This chapter is kind of violent, with lots of blood spilling and whatnot. Consider this forewarning.

**Standard Apology For Lateness of Chapter:** Sorry! I moved, and had to wait another week before my internet could get set up!

*******

The shadow of Aquilamon passed over, Ken knew, but he did not have the luxury of enough time to lift his head and see. The swordsmen had neither increased nor decreased in number. Each one that he managed to defeat was replaced shortly after by another, and there were always more of them.

Both Ken and Yamato had been fighting for quite some time now, and both were tiring. Sweat poured liberally down both their foreheads, and a few too many scratches and close shaves meant that both were also bleeding, though neither was seriously hurt.

A brief gust of air signaled the landing of Aquilamon, and the large bird set down in the clearing amidst the fighters, heedless of the disruption he was causing. All present quickly scattered.

Miyako climbed down first, and then reached back to help another girl and her Lopmon partner. The girl was shaking slightly, but the Lopmon merely looked inconvenienced by the whole affair, and was frowning severely.

One of the swordsmen, apparently tired of waiting for his previous opponent to resume the fight, leapt into the air, apparently intent upon attacking Miyako. Before he could do so, however, Aquilamon, without otherwise moving, called, "Blast Laser!" and fired twin red beams from the tips of his horns. The swordsman took the blasts full on in the chest and fell unceremoniously to the ground, after which he did not move again.

"The sword!" Yamato shouted, and ran forward to retrieve the fallen one's weapon.

"Haven't you got one already?" Lopmon questioned. "Do you really need very many?"

"The sword is what holds the magic together, I think," Ken said. He held up the one he had borrowed, showing that a small blue stone was embedded in the hilt. "When you take the sword, the fighter disappears. Not that it matters, since they're soon replaced."

Miyako was looking at this with a curious expression. "Some other sort of crystal?" she wondered, and took a step forward to study it more closely. "So it seems."

"I would have looked at it more closely," he replied, wiping a bit of the sweat from his brow, "but I've been busy."

During this conversation, Yamato had reached the body of the fallen swordsman, and pulled his weapon from his grasp. Without fanfare, the body vanished into nothingness.

"I've never seen anything quite like this," Miyako said, turning her eyes away from the vanished swordsman. "Crystals can be used for a lot of things, though. I might have an idea, but I'd like to ask Koushiro. Any idea where he is?"

"There are swordsmen in the dining hall," said the servant girl who was partnered with the Lopmon. "And upstairs, too," she added, pointing toward the window out which they had flown.

"Upstairs?" Ken echoed.

"Inside?" Yamato asked, and turned back toward the house. He muttered a curse quietly, then sighed heavily and hurried toward the door.

"Upstairs?" Ken said again, turning toward Miyako. "They went upstairs, after you?"

"I don't know if they were really after _me_ specifically," Miyako replied, looking up from her study of the crystal in the sword hilt. "It may simply be that they're attacking the house, inside and out, and, since I was there…." She shrugged.

"If you go back inside," he said thoughtfully, "you'll be heading directly into danger, and yet…."

"No guarantee out here will be any safer," she concluded with a sigh. "I don't like this." She frowned in his direction. "You're bleeding, you know."

"I'll be fine," he answered dismissively, shrugging. "Stay close to me, and I'll try to protect you."

Miyako sighed again, following as he headed toward the house, trailed by the girl and her Lopmon partner. After a moment, Aquilamon de-evolved, as he was too large to fit comfortably inside, though Stingmon would be small enough to squeeze. "Don't you want the sword back?" she asked.

"Keep it," Ken replied, pulling open the door with one hand and stepping aside so the others could enter first. "I've got another," he added, holding up the one he held in his other hand.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Miyako wondered. "I'm liable to accidentally behead you. Do you suppose I could have something to wrap around the blade?"

Ken didn't bother answering these questions, but went on into the house, pausing in the entranceway to listen for the sound of fighting. The sound of shouting and metal clashing could be heard distantly down the hall, and so he turned in that direction.

They had only taken a few steps, however, before Miyako felt the shimmer of magic that foretold a teleportation. She took a step backward instinctively, and saw that Ken raised his weapon, having also felt the magic. A split second later, a brief flash of light appeared, and then the swordsman appeared, midair, to Ken's right.

He turned smoothly, and a clank sounded as the blades met in midair. Before the swordsman's feet hit the ground, he vanished, and then another (or perhaps the same) appeared to the left of where he had vanished.

Ken had no time to turn, and so he stepped aside, hoping to avoid the blade. The edge of it sliced a line through his upper arm, near the shoulder. Almost immediately, blood appeared, and began to drip down the sleeve of his shirt.

"Ken!" Miyako gasped aloud, and took a step forward.

In that same instant, Stingmon moved into the space between his partner and the swordsman, his much stronger skin taking the brunt of the second blow without much damage. Then, before the swordsman could vanish, Stingmon thrust his arm forward, digging his claws into the stomach of his opponent. The swordsman did not scream, did not gasp or make any other sound, but fell back, lifeless. Stingmon removed his now bloody claw from the body and then took the sword from his grasp.

Miyako had reached Ken by now, and paid no attention to any of that. He was looking a bit pale, possibly from the loss of blood, and possibly from the exertion of having been fighting for the last hour or more. He turned his eyes toward her, and she saw that they were a bit unfocused. For all that he might now deny it, she knew that this was no unserious wound.

"I'll be all right," he said, noting her worried expression before she could even speak.

She didn't bother arguing, but instead pulled out the long belt of her bathrobe, untying it from her waist, and began to wrap it around the wound. "We need to find Takeru," she said.

"Assuming he hasn't got his hands full," Hawkmon added with a frown.

The swordsmen had not reappeared (perhaps scared away by their quick defeat at the claws of Stingmon), and the hallway was now quite empty. For the moment, all was silent, and Miyako said nothing as she tied and securely knotted the makeshift bandage.

"Where is everyone?" Lopmon wondered, looking up at her partner. The girl was shivering quite noticeably now.

"I-I hope they haven't a-all b-been…," she began, but couldn't finish the sentence. Tears had begun to form in her eyes, though she was fighting against them bravely.

"I'm sure they haven't," Miyako said. "The swordsman are not so skilled as that." She set her mouth into a determined frown, and then looked at the sword she still carried in her hand. "This is what keeps their magic together, you said?"

"So it seems," Ken answered.

"Let's see what happens," she said then, "if you break the crystal."

Before anyone could question her idea, she took a few steps forward, to the nearest door, and smashed the hilt of the sword into the solid metal door knob.

There was a crashing, breaking noise not unlike the sound of glass shattering, and the crystal broke into many small pieces, some of which fell upon the floor below, and glittered in the dim light. Nothing further seemed to happen.

"Apparently, nothing?" Hawkmon wondered, but Miyako shook her head.

***

Once more, Daisuke found that his blade narrowly missed its target, slicing instead through empty air as his opponent vanished into nothingness. He swallowed an exclamation of anger rather than shout out his frustration; doing so would only use more energy than he could afford to waste. A brief flash of light appeared in the corner of his eye and he instead twisted quickly to block the next blow, which came from above and to his right.

There was the clash of metal upon metal, a loud clank that echoed in the otherwise silent and empty room. Daisuke looked up into the dark eyes of the swordsmen and saw determination: unwavering determination. This was no battle of wits and skill, he knew, it was a battle which would undoubtedly end with one or the other gravely injured.

The wound upon his right arm seemed to foretell his eventual defeat. Though the initial, sharp pang had vanished, to be replaced with a dull ache, fresh blood still dripped from the place where the sword had neatly sliced through his skin. Already his sleeve was stained bright red, and the spot was spreading slowly downward. There was no time to tend to it, or even to spend feeling the pain, for the swordsman had not given him a second of rest before resuming his attack.

The swordsman and Daisuke crossed swords a moment before each broke away, satisfied that their strength alone would not be enough to defeat the other. The swordsman took a step back, then forward, and swung his blade once more toward his opponent. Rather than stepping backward to block this attack, Daisuke stepped a short distance to his left and then thrust forward with his own sword.

The blade made contact with something – he could feel the resistance upon the blade – and the swordsman himself let out a little gasp, more of surprise than pain. Then he vanished into nothingness.

He did not immediately reappear, and Daisuke took the moment to glance down at his arm, noting the state of his injury for the first time since it had occurred. Now that he saw it, he became suddenly more aware of it. Gingerly, he tapped at the edge of it with one finger, and winced at the pain.

A short distance away, V-mon was sitting down on the floor, obviously a bit tired from his exertions. He was covered in tiny, inconsequential scratches and bruises, and was, like his partner, poking at a few of the larger injuries.

The swordsman finally appeared once more near the edge of the dais upon which the old man sat. He, too, appeared tired, and was clutching at his stomach with one hand, apparently in the space in which Daisuke had injured him.

"What do you think?" the old man asked of his servant. The swordsman frowned and then pulled his hand away from his stomach. He looked at his wound for a moment without allowing anyone else a clear view of the details, and then replaced his hand.

"Good instincts," the swordsman replied grudgingly. "This might take a while."

The old man nodded, satisfied. "Don't worry," he replied. "I've got some time. Is there a capacity?"

The swordsman frowned more severely than before. "Perhaps," he answered. He adjusted his grip upon his sword, took two steps forward, and then vanished into thin air.

***

Sweat pouring down his face, Yamato burst through the open door, having easily sliced through a dozen swordsmen or more on the way there. After each destruction, he had pulled the sword from the hand of the fighter and then dropped it upon the floor, moving on to his next opponent. Gabumon, following behind his partner, picked up each discarded blade that was dropped, and brought them along.

The sitting room, easily the largest in the house, was filled with people. A crowd of swordsmen was present, and nearly everyone in the room was engaged in some sort of battle or other with a swordsman. Jun had backed into a corner, out of the way, and Koushiro stood beside her, raising a protective shield when needed, occasionally casting some offensive spell.

The rest of the room was chaotic, filled with swordsmen. Through the crowd, Yamato was able to spot his brother as he ducked to avoid a well-swung blade and shortly after matched swords with another. Taichi, too, was battling two or three of the swordsmen at once, and Yamato turned in his direction in time to see his sword slice through the torso of a swordsman, who fell back and vanished to allow another to take his place.

There were a half-dozen servants present as well, the men battling with swords, broomsticks, mop handles, and anything else that had been available. A few of the women were also engaged, and one in particular was quite adept with a wet mop that she was connecting solidly with any swordsman who dared come near her. It worked, Yamato noted, nearly as well as a blade.

"Is there no end to them?" he wondered aloud, but had no time to think any further thoughts before a sword's blade swung close enough to him that he had to raise his own to block.

For the next few minutes, all was a blur to his mind as he concentrated only upon blocking the next sword's blow, hoping to strike effectively against his enemies, increasing the pile of stolen swords as he sliced through several with ease.

Yamato raised his sword, preparing to strike down upon his latest opponent, and found that his blade met only a solid, invisible wall. Some magical creation seemed to be preventing him from attacking. For a moment, his mind whirled through the possibilities – did the swordsmen, being creations of magic, have the ability to _use_ magic? Had their creator appeared, to aid in their defense?

Before he could clearly think of anything more or less plausible, the air grew suddenly warmer, and the swordsman he had been battling moments before suddenly burst into flames. After a moment of burning, the swordsman vanished into nothingness. Whether this was the fault of the fire or by his own will Yamato could not tell, but in any case he had gone.

He turned his head finally, taking in the rest of the room, and saw that small, intense fires were burning in various locations, then snuffing out. Though some of the swordsmen had undoubtedly escaped their fates, some had been destroyed, and their swords clanked to the ground beside them.

Yamato turned his head toward the door and saw that Miyako and Ken had entered the room, trailed by Stingmon, Hawkmon, and the servant girl and her Lopmon. At the moment the flames extinguished themselves, Miyako seemed to lose a bit of strength, and half-fell, sideways, into Ken, who did not look particularly energetic himself. Both were pale, and tired looking, and quite a bit of blood had soaked through Ken's makeshift bandage. A bright light briefly flashed, signaling the de-evolution of Stingmon, and a small, tired-looking Wormmon replaced him.

"You're bleeding," Takeru noted, stepping forward, his healer's training having caused him to take note of that fact before all others. "Both of you look exhausted. How did you manage that?"

It was a question that was undoubtedly upon all their minds, as Miyako had previously barely had enough magic to create a brief spark. Still leaning upon Ken, the two of them made their way to the nearest couch and sank into it. Most of the rest of those present in the room prepared to do the same, for the fighting had tired them.

"The crystals," Miyako explained while Ken allowed Takeru a clear view of the slice on his arm. It was not serious, not for one who used magic to heal, though without such a thing it might have taken weeks for him to recover.

"Crystals?" Koushiro echoed. "You mean the teleportation crystals?"

She was shaking her head before he'd even finished the question. "In the handle of the sword," she replied, and held up the blade she still carried in her own hand. In the hilt, there was a small indentation into which a small jewel was intended to fit. This particular sword, however, did not hold any such object. "They're magic holders."

Yamato studied the handle of the sword he'd been carrying, and then glanced toward the pile of stolen weapons Gabumon had laid upon the ground nearby. Each of the swords, he now realized, was exactly the same as the last, identically made, and each had a small blue crystal embedded in exactly the same place.

"They hold the illusion magic that creates the swordsmen!" he realized.

"That explains how so many of them were able to be created," Koushiro noted, crossing the room. He took one of the swords from the small pile and studied the crystal embedded in the hilt with a discerning eye. He raised his eyes in the direction of Miyako. "You freed some of the magic by breaking the crystal, and then used that magic to create that fire spell," he concluded, and she nodded.

"It's probably her own magic that was taken back," Ken stated with a rather annoyed sort of expression. "That's probably why they stole her magic, to have more to power those things." He gestured toward the pile of swords with his good arm as he spoke, as Takeru was still preoccupied with the other.

"Well, one thing's for sure," Taichi said after a moment of consideration. "There isn't enough protection here to keep out teleporting swordsmen, and there are likely to be more of them."

"Many more," Yamato agreed darkly as he sheathed his weapon. "What do we do?"

"If we break the crystals," the other went on, "is it possible we could use the magic inside it to forge strong enough protection spells to keep them out?"

"I don't see why not," Koushiro replied immediately, looking up from the swords. "Protection spells can be created with any sort of magic, and there's no reason the magic in these crystals can't be used for that purpose. I'd simply need to find a few spells, but between all of us," he gestured around the room to include all those present who could wield magic, "we could come up with something fairly strong."

"Even if it wasn't, it'd be more than is here now, which is nothing, so far as I know," Taichi replied. He turned toward Jun. "It's up to you, as this is your home."

"I've no objection to an increase in security," she answered immediately. "I'd like to be able to sleep through the night without worrying about teleporting swordsmen invading my bedroom." She glanced around the room, noting the wide, somewhat fearful eyes of the servants present. "Or anyone else's," she added.

***

The fighting between Daisuke and the swordsman resumed without ceremony, each once more clashing swords without much success at injuring the other. The Gazimon and V-mon had also picked up their previous battle, which had begun with punches and degenerated after a bit to the point where each was scratching furiously and pulling upon the other's ears.

Tailmon had spent the last few minutes doing some furious scratching of her own, but it did not seem to have dented the barrier which insulated her and Hikari from the rest of the world. Hikari, not expecting that her partner's efforts would be of much use, gathered her magical strength and focused her mind, preparing.

She had never used very much offensive magic at all. Her studies of the magical arts had previously spread out across nearly every other discipline. From the sanctuary mages, she had developed a way to diffuse a powerful spell of enslavement. From books and Miyako's example she had learned to produce an effective shield. She could teleport, which did not take much skill at all when the crystals were used. Takeru had shown her a tiny bit of healing magic, though nothing more than the basics of theory and nothing of practical use. Offensive spells, however, were untested.

It would only be an offensive spell, however, which could hope to break through such a well-constructed barrier, and so Hikari prepared herself to improvise one. She had read a few in books, and now struggled to recall the structure of one of them, as such readings had been rather far in the past.

Defensive spells were formed by the strengthening of the aura, eventually forming a bubble of protection. Healing spells, so far as she had learned, involved modifying the aura into a curative mist which could then be projected and focused onto another. Teleportation required a massive amount of energy to be focused into a certain shape (aided by the use of a crystal).

Offensive spells could be formed in several ways. Elemental spells, involving wind, fire, earth, or even water, were the easiest, as they drew more upon the energies and powers of things around the caster. A wind spell was not draining because it required energy to create the wind, but because it required energy to focus the air and the wind in the direction needed. Fire spells required a brief spark of magic, and then energy and focus to move them in the direction required.

Hikari knew the theory of these elemental spells, though she had never had occasion to attempt such a casting. She knew, however, that it would not be effective to blow wind upon the barrier walls, and to blast at it with flames would most likely result in more injury to herself than the walls. She would need, instead, to find some weakness in the walls and force them apart.

There did not seem to be such a weakness, however.

There was a shout from the battle that momentarily distracted Hikari from her thoughts and plans, and she looked up in time to see that the swordsman had let out a shout as he emerged, mid-air, in the space above Daisuke. He held his sword, point down, apparently intending to drive the weapon directly into his opponent.

Daisuke dived out of the way with only seconds to spare, rolling briefly along the ground but thankfully not losing his grip on his weapon. He came out of the roll upon his back and raised his sword to block the next blow, which once more came from above, this time in a wide swing rather than a sharp thrust (which would have been far more difficult to block). He kicked out with his legs, intending to unbalance his opponent, and the swordsman, unprepared, nearly lost his balance and fell to the ground, teleporting before he could hit the floor. Daisuke used this split-second break to get to his feet once more.

Hikari felt a shiver run down her spine, partly from witnessing this close call, which was not the first she had witnessed since the fight began. After a moment, however, she realized that the shiver was also caused by the presence of magic, or rather a _change_ in the presence of magic. Something, she realized, had magically changed in the last few seconds while she had been watching the battle.

She turned her head, trying to determine where the feeling had come from and what had caused it. The wide, open room looked the same as before. The old man was lounging in his chair, watching the fight with a half interested, half sleepy expression, and did not appear to notice if anything had change. Along the walls stood the shadowy figures that were creations of magic. They stretched from one end of the room to the other, each one a short distance from the last, evenly spaced.

Nothing appeared different.

Hikari ran her eyes down one line of the shadow-men, and then back along the opposite wall. There were so many of the figures that it took a few passes before she realized that one of them was missing. She blinked at the empty space for a moment, and wondered what this meant.

She was still pondering the significance when she felt another shiver of magic and turned in the opposite direction. Now, another of the shadows was gone, this time from the wall behind her. As she stared at the empty space, something blinked at the edge of her vision, and she turned in time to see a third vanish in an instant.

"Hikari!" Tailmon said then, and she looked down to see that her partner had somehow managed to poke a tiny hole within the invisible barrier. One claw had poked through the magic, and tiny sparks of light could be seen flickering in the space around the break.

"It's weakening," Hikari realized, and turned her head back toward the empty space. "The magic is weakening, and the shadows are disappearing. Why?"

"Does it matter?" Tailmon questioned, squeezing a second sharp claw into the tiny hole and using her strength to attempt to widen the space. "I think…I can get through it now."

It was still not an easy task, and the feline digimon was using quite a bit of her strength in the effort. Hikari placed one hand up against the barrier and felt that some of the cords of support had unraveled a bit. She gathered her magic, focused the strength of her aura upon her right hand, and then pushed it up against the barrier.

She could feel the barrier weakening, and knew that her efforts were making a difference. In the midst of this activity, however, the sound of a sword clanking upon the stone caused her to look away, toward the battle.

The swordsman's weapon had crashed into one of several columns supporting the roof of the massive chamber, having narrowly missed his target once more. Daisuke took a step back in order to avoid this blow and unexpectedly lost his footing upon the smooth stones. He sat down, hard, and the handle of his sword slipped from his grasp and slid across the floor.

The swordsman wasted no time in recovering himself, raising his weapon high over his head and then lowering it in a wide arc. Daisuke turned, reaching for the sword, and found that the blade of his opponent's weapon was blocking his way. He turned his head, looking up.

The man's dark eyes were flashing with exertion and emotion. Sweat had dripped down from his forehead, damping his face and sticking in his long, dark hair. He was breathing heavily, chest heaving beneath his dark shirt, upon which it was nearly possible to make out a bit of blood stained from where Daisuke's sword had once made contact with his stomach.

If it was a serious wound it had not greatly hindered his fighting efforts, and yet the amount of blood upon his clothes seemed to indicate such. Daisuke, looking into the face of the man who it seemed would now kill him, wondered if such an injury might have been enough against some other opponent.

"Meet your end," the swordsman muttered under his breath. Perhaps he did not have the energy for a shout of anger and victory, perhaps his wound had tired him more or he was merely exhausted from the fighting. In any case, he lifted his sword once more and brought it down with all his strength.

Daisuke shut his eyes and raised one arm in a useless defense against such a weapon. Whether the sword made contact with his arm or his neck was inconsequential: the fight was ended either way. There was no time to attempt to crawl toward his sword without meeting death or further injury in the process that would render him incapable of fighting any further.

For the second time, he waited for the swordsman's blade to take his life, and for the second time, he did not die.

He opened his eyes after a moment, when there was no pain and no entrance into death. The sword was resting in midair. The hilt was, as always, resting in the palm of the swordsman's hand, and the tip was resting upon nothing a short distance above Daisuke.

There was silence in the chamber for a long moment that seemed to stretch on for nearly an eternity. Outside the building, a gentle gust of the sea breeze pushed a few clouds past the sun. The chamber passed into shadow, and then out of it.

There was the sound of crashing glass upon the stone, and one of the shadowy figures that lined the walls vanished. The blue crystal he had been wearing about his neck fell to the floor and shattered. The sound of it echoed in the vast, empty space.


	41. Coming Together

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Forty-One:** Coming Together**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon,_ all related characters, money, etc, does not belong to me. Plot does. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

There is one more chapter after this one, an epilogue of sorts.

***

The brightness of the late afternoon sunlight reflected off the four unbroken blue crystals, causing them to appear to nearly glow even without magical sight. Koushiro passed one to Miyako.

"At the point of due north," he directed, having consulted the appropriate volume for the precise manner in which the spell could be constructed. "Bury this in the ground, elbow deep." He pointed to his own arm as an example. "Then wait."

"Until nightfall?" she wondered, looking up from the crystal.

He nodded. "Under the moonlight, the magic will have the most effect. It isn't quite full, but there's nothing much we can do about that."

He handed another to Takeru, who took it with a vaguely reluctant expression, as though he wasn't quite sure he'd be up to the task. "Are you sure I should…?" he wondered.

"Four are needed to cast this spell the right way," the wizard replied. "It will not be a difficult casting, I assure you."

"If you can manage healing spells, you can manage this," Miyako told him with an air of confidence. "I've seen them performed, I've seen them _written_, and they're far more complex than protection magic."

"Yeah, but I'm _used_ to them," Takeru replied. "I haven't the faintest idea what to do with a protection spell."

"Don't worry," Koushiro replied, obviously unconcerned. He turned toward Ken and held out the next crystal. "If you will help?"

Ken's expression seemed reluctant as well, though for different reasons than Takeru. He looked at the small blue stone for a few moments without saying anything, and then nodded, taking it from the wizard's outstretched palm.

"And I suppose I shall have the last," Koushiro said then with a nod. "Each one, as I said, must be buried elbow deep, in the spot which aligns _precisely_ with a cardinal direction from the center of the space which we are protecting, in this case the house."

He gestured briefly toward the building, a short distance beyond him, as they spoke. "Each of us takes one direction and walks an equal number of paces in that direction, forming the perimeter. Understand?"

"How many paces?" Miyako wondered, and here Koushiro turned a questioning gaze toward Jun.

"How far beyond the house should the spell encompass?" he asked her. "Too far, and the protection will be lesser."

"What does it protect from, exactly?" Jun wondered. "Aside from teleporting swordsmen?"

"The protection against teleportation is not absolute," Koushiro warned, "and will not likely keep out _all_ such intruders."

"Until recently," Yamato noted, "such a thing wasn't a big concern, was it?"

"No," the wizard agreed. "In fact it was probably the least of all the concerns. The protection spell is more intended to defend against physical attacks…against armies with swords and fire. It also is designed to deter any and all magical attacks. A blast of fire, for example," he said, glancing briefly toward Miyako as he spoke, "would not be completely blocked, but would be greatly hindered by the protection spell."

Jun considered this for a few moments, casting her eyes over the grounds. "When my father was killed," she recalled, "he was but a short distance from the house." She pointed toward the spot in question. "Is a hundred paces from the wall too much to ask for? I wish that the village and the fields could be included, too, but that, I suppose, is too far."

"Unfortunately," Koushiro agreed with a frown.

"It's possible to put protection spells in the village as well," Miyako put in, "but because of all the travelers going in and out, some of whom might be mages, their power would be far weaker than anything here."

"It's really designed for a single building," Koushiro noted, "and a small area around it. A hundred paces from each wall is certainly an acceptable distance."

He waited a moment, gathering his thoughts, awaiting further questions, and then nodded. "All right then," he said, "each of us takes a direction and walks a hundred paces straight from the wall." He nodded to each of them in turn as he spoke.

"And each goes with some protection," Taichi said then, speaking for the first time since they had begun the preparations. "In case there is some attempt to hinder the spell's creation."

Yamato had been leaning up against the wall of the house, interested but not particularly involved within the discussion as he had no magic to use and would not take part in the activity. "An excellent idea," he agreed now, standing up straighter. He crossed to his brother's side, and slapped him heartily on the back. "I shall keep all the evil swordsmen from attacking you."

Takeru took a step forward beneath the force of the blow and, turning, narrowed his eyes toward his brother. "Thanks," he said, and turned his gaze about. "I suppose I'll head South," he decided.

"I will take the North," Miyako said, and turned in that direction.

"East," Ken said simply, turning his eyes toward the village.

"That leaves the West for me," Koushiro concluded. "One hundred paces from the wall in that direction, buried elbow deep. Then return here and we wait for nightfall."

***

The swordsman lifted his weapon once more and brought it down with more force. Daisuke briefly shut his eyes, and then peered out from under his arm when nothing seemed to happen. Whatever magical wall had appeared between himself and his opponent seemed to be too strong to crack with a sword's slash, however.

A brief flash of annoyance passed over the swordsman's face, and then he vanished, reappearing a moment later beside the old man, breathing heavily. Slowly, Daisuke got to his feet, keeping his eyes upon the swordsman in case he should decide to attack once more.

"Daisuke!" Hikari called, and he turned his head then to see her stepping over an invisible magical wall and hurrying toward him. "You're hurt," she said when she had reached him, noting the blood on his arm.

Breathing heavily, partly perhaps from exertion, partly from pain, Daisuke bent to retrieve his sword, and then wiped his free hand across his sweat-soaked forehead. "I'll be fine," he said dismissively, but did not protest when she pulled a bit of cloth from the pack she still carried and began to dab lightly at the injury.

Hikari met his eyes with a vaguely worried expression, frowning. "I think you may have hurt him worse," she said quietly, briefly gesturing sideways with her eyes. "It's hard to tell. And the magic is weakening. The shadows are vanishing."

As though to illustrate this point, the sound of shattering glass echoed off the vast walls as a half-dozen of the silent figures vanished at once. The noise was deafening but brief, and quickly faded into silence.

"Why?" Daisuke wanted to know. "Are you…?"

She shook her head before he finished the question. "No," she replied. "It's been all I could do to get through the barrier until now. I don't understand it at all."

"Well whatever the reason," he concluded, "it's a good thing, isn't it?"

"I suppose," Hikari answered in a hesitant sort of way. Having slowed but not halted the flow of blood, she now tied a clean cloth tightly around the wound, and then frowned at it for a long moment.

The swordsman had apparently been tending to his own injury during this pause, and consulting with old man in voices too quiet to carry across the space. Abruptly, this quiet conversation was interrupted by the old man's voice.

"There isn't time!" he said loudly. "The crystals are being destroyed, don't you see?" He gestured toward the wall, where the ranks of shadow-men had obviously been thinned. "If we wait and regroup," he continued in a voice that was only slightly quieter, "it'll be two centuries before I can summon enough magic to try again. I might manage to stay alive that long, but you won't!"

"If we don't leave now," the swordsman replied in a far calmer voice that nonetheless carried across the space in the quiet moments, "I won't live two more days, never mind two centuries."

Hikari briefly glanced toward Daisuke, who frowned at this last statement, and then met her gaze. Her assessment of health had apparently been correct.

"It's taken you nearly fifty years to gather this much magic," the swordsman went on, "and it's not enough, not against this one." He waved one hand vaguely toward his opponent. "You might not have so easy a time later, and you certainly won't find a better servant than I."

His final words were said with a bit of an arrogant tone, which had the effect of angering the old man. "I can find one less insolent, that's for certain," he retorted. "Your duty is to fight, so fight, and stop trying to think or concern yourself with issues of conscience."

The swordsman did not appear to be particularly pleased with this, but he said nothing in his own defense. He turned back to the room, and took a deep breath. Whatever he had been doing to attempt to heal his wounds, he was apparently able to return to fighting now, and so he raised his sword once more.

"I may require assistance," he stated without glancing back toward the old man. "I will summon them back, as they are doing little good at the task they were assigned."

"Do it," the old man agreed. "This here is our primary goal for the moment. The other can wait."

The air beside him briefly shimmered, and a dozen of the magical swordsmen appeared. In unison, each unsheathed the sword from his back, and held it out.

Daisuke tightened his grip upon his sword, and Hikari took a small step closer to him. "How…?" she wondered, and he turned toward her, knowing that she was not asking about the magical processes.

"If I have your help," he said, "maybe…."

Hikari nodded. "You will always have my help," she assured him. "I will protect you, I promise."

He smiled briefly, and in this moment, V-mon interrupted. "Me, too!" he called from where he had been sitting upon the floor nearby, tending to his own minor scratches.

***

The sun had nearly vanished by the time that Koushiro had finished explaining the steps to casting the spell of protection.

Now, with a cool night breeze dancing over the grasses, Takeru stopped at the spot in which he had buried the small blue crystal, directly on top of the small mound of freshly turned earth.

"You ready for this?" Yamato asked of his brother, absently clenching and unclenching his fist around his sword hilt, waiting and expecting danger.

Takeru flexed his own fingers, briefly running through the motions that would be necessary to cast the spell without summoning his magic. He had memorized the motions, this was not his worry.

"I suppose," he replied without conviction, and took a deep breath. "I can manage."

Another cool breeze cooled the sweat still present on the brothers' foreheads after their earlier exertions. The sun's last light had vanished below the distant horizon, leaving only the dim tint of dusk that slowly faded into the blackness of night.

"I'm sure," Yamato said into the silence, "that you can do it."

Before Takeru could reply to this vote of confidence, a brief flash of light appeared in the northwest sky. It was the signal that it was time to begin the spell casting. There could be no further time wasted.

"Thanks," Takeru said quietly, and then sank down to his knees and placed both hands atop the mound of dirt. He shut his eyes briefly, and then allowed his magic to flow through his hands, through the dirt, into the crystal. When the two met, he used his own to draw up the magic from the crystal, climbing to his feet as he did so.

As Yamato watched, the magic, visible as a faint, blue light in the darkness of the night, rose up from the ground and shot like a beacon into the sky. Distantly, three other similar beams could be seen rising toward the sky.

For a moment, Takeru took a step back and merely stared at the beam, and then he reached forward with both hands and thrust them into the beam of light. He squinted his eyes and grimaced with concentration, and then the beam slowly dissipated as the blue white light spread out in either direction, forming now a wall of magic. At almost the same time, the other lights did the same.

***

There was a brief flash of light, and in this brief span of time all twelve of the magically created swordsmen vanished and reappeared in a wide circle around Daisuke and Hikari. Tailmon briefly flexed her sharp claws and frowned. Hikari glanced toward her partner, and then toward Daisuke, who returned her gaze for a split second.

"V-mon evolve!" called a voice.

In the next instant, everything happened at once. Each of the swordsmen raised his sword and rushed forward. XV-mon launched himself into the air and charged a portion of the circle. He collided head first into one of the swordsmen, knocking him back, and the swordsman teleported away before he could slam into a nearby column. He then turned sharply to block the blow of a second opponent, and kicked out at a third with a powerful thrust of his leg.

Tailmon leapt toward another section of the circle, claws flying. She sliced a quick but significant scratch through the chest of one, then struck out with her legs to launch herself from the same point, toward a second opponent. He raised his sword in protection from her claws, but she swiped the blade aside with one quick motion and then latched herself upon his head.

Deciding that his best defense was to provide offense, Daisuke took two steps forward and met the sword of the nearest attacker. The clanking of the blades echoed loudly over the general cacophony of battle. He drew back his sword, and then lowered it to block a second swing.

From the side of his eye he saw a brief glint of metal as a second swordsman raised a sword to attack, but there was no time to turn before the sword of the first could be blocked. He took a step to the side, hoping to avoid the worst of the slice, and then drew back his blade once more and turned to face this second attacker.

His sword, however, collided with a solid space of air, an invisible wall between the two fighters. For a moment, Daisuke merely stared at it, uncomprehendingly, and then he turned quickly to meet the blade of his previous opponent, who had not abandoned his own attack.

These swordsmen were not quite as skilled opponents as their human counterpart, and so, on the next strike, Daisuke managed to drive his sword into the body of his foe. He vanished, leaving magically created blood dripping from the sword that had pierced him.

There was no time for Daisuke to revel in the victory, however, for another swordsman had appeared. Without waiting for an attack, Daisuke turned quickly, this time slicing his blade across the man's torso, once more defeating his enemy.

Another appeared almost in the same spot that this one vanished, and a second directly to his right. As his blade could not attack two at once, Daisuke swung at the first with his weapon, and then kicked out at the second with his foot, managing to unbalance the swordsman and send him stumbling backwards.

As he fell, a glint of blue light flashed, and Daisuke saw that the dimming sunlight was reflecting off a colored stone embedded in the hilt of the sword. He frowned at it, recognizing for some reason he could not quite determine, and then turned to face the first swordsman again.

"Hikari!" he called, and almost immediately the first swordsman found his strike blocked by an invisible wall. Daisuke took advantage of this brief pause and turned his head back toward her, a questioning expression upon his face. "What do the blue crystals do?"

"Blue crystals?" she echoed, and then turned back toward the shadow-men that still lined the walls. There were a dozen of them left, and each of them was wearing a blue crystal around his neck. "I don't know," she admitted. "Some sort of magic…protection maybe?"

"The swords," he explained. "I think they have the same crystals in them."

"Magical swords…," she mused absently as Daisuke turned his attention back to the swordsmen, "for magical soldiers. What do the crystals have to do with the shadows?"

A swordsman appeared in the space before her, attacking from above. As she had done before, Hikari raised a shield of magic to halt his attack, this time modifying and curving it slightly so that he was held in midair. She took a brief step forward so she might get a better look at his sword, and saw the crystal in question, clearly visible.

The fighter vanished before she could get a better view of his weaponry, and she glanced back toward Daisuke in case he might need further assistance. "Crystals," she said aloud, though she was really only speaking to herself, "are primarily magic holders, right? The teleportation crystals hold enough excess magic to ease the process, directing it in the right manner. If the blue crystals hold magic as well, does that magic create the sword?"

"No," she realized suddenly, answering her own question. "It's the magic that creates the swordsmen…and the shadows!" She turned back toward the shadow-men lining the wall. "Daisuke!"

He didn't have the luxury, for the moment, of responding to her call. His latest opponent had matched swords with him, and each was now pushing, hard, upon his blade, hoping to defeat the other with pure strength. It was a fair match, though, and after a few moments the swordsman vanished and then reappeared to attack from the side.

Daisuke turned quickly and blocked the blade, then drew his sword back and thrust it once more into the body of his opponent. He pulled it out, once more dripping with fresh blood, and the swordsman fell backward, sitting down upon the stone.

"Take the sword!" Hikari shouted in that moment, and at the same time shielded him from the next few opponents that might seek to take advantage of this distraction. "Hurry!"

He stepped forward and removed the weapon from the hand of the swordsman before he could vanish into nothingness. For a moment, he tested the weight of the sword, and then studied it with the eye of someone who has a knowledge of such weapons. It was decently made, though not extraordinary, and he experimentally swung it in a few quick swipes.

"It's not really going to do me any good, having a second one," he called back to Hikari, who was concentrating upon maintaining not only the shield protecting Daisuke but the one around herself as well.

"Break the crystal," she replied. "I think…."

She was running low on breath, though, and the two shields took a bit of her energy. Daisuke didn't wait for her to finish the explanation, only took a few steps toward the nearest support post and slammed the hilt of the sword into the stone.

The sound of the glass shattering echoed over the sound of fighting. When it had faded, another, similar sound echoed after it, and Daisuke turned his head toward this noise to see that another crystal, this one around the neck of one of the shadows near the wall, had fallen to the ground as its bearer vanished into nothingness.

"They hold the magic," Hikari said, "that created the swordsmen."

Daisuke nodded in understanding and ran his eyes along the wall of shadows. "Destroying the shadows," he said, "might be easier than destroying the swordsmen."

"If you can get to them," Tailmon commented as she connected one fist with her latest opponent. "Which might not be so easy."

"Leave it to me," XV-mon replied confidently, tossing aside his latest opponent with a casual swipe of his arm. He spread his wings wide and then took to the air.

"Stop him, you idiots!" the old man shouted, and in unison the eleven swordsmen that remained vanished and appeared, mid-air. As one they struck out with their weapons, and as one they dropped back to the ground, disappearing before they collided with the floor, their attacks repelled by the shield Hikari had diverted.

When he had risen high enough above the ground that he would be able to destroy half the shadows in a single blow, XV-mon halted his flight and hovered above the ground. He spread his arms wide, preparing his attack.

The swordsman who was human appeared in the air short distance above him and brought down his sword. Like the others, it collided with the invisible barrier, but unlike the others, it slipped through this barrier as though it were only made of flesh.

Hikari gasped aloud, barely stifling a cry of pain, and let the rest of the magic fade. She sank to her knees on the stone floor and wrapped her arms around her stomach as though the blade had sliced her body rather than her magic.

The sword connected with the arm of XV-mon at the precise moment that he unleashed his attack. "X Laser!" he shouted, and a powerful burst of white light collided with the wall he had been aiming at.

A cloud of dust and debris rose from the wall as the blast slammed into it, filling the room. For a long moment, no one was able to see anything. Daisuke found his lungs filled with dust, his eyes gritty with debris. He coughed several times and rubbed at his eyes, squinting through the clouds. He could see very little.

A few moments later, a second burst of light, aimed toward the other wall, coupled with another shout from XV-mon, sent another, equally large cloud of dust into the air. Daisuke felt a few small stones slice through his skin, leaving a dozen or so tiny scratches on his arms as he raised them to protect his face.

The dust made it nearly impossible to breathe or see. "Hikari!" he called, and meant to shout again, but had not enough air. He rubbed more of the grit from his eyes and coughed a few more times, walking toward the space where he last remembered seeing her.

He found them all, V-mon, Tailmon, and Hikari, in the center of the large room, not far from where Hikari had last been standing. V-mon was looking rather tired, and covered, like his partner, with dust and a multitude of scratches. His eyes were dropping heavily, but he turned toward his partner as Daisuke approached, and managed a tired-looking smile.

Hikari was still kneeling upon the floor as she had been before, and now she raised her head. Feeling as though his legs were not likely to hold him up much longer, Daisuke knelt beside her and stretched one arm toward her.

"Are you all right?" he asked. She did not look terribly hurt, only covered (as everything and everyone was) with a thin layer of dust and debris. The way she had fallen to the ground before, however, had suggested a more serious injury.

She nodded, and then gently brushed one finger over a small scratch upon his face, below his right eye. "Are you?"

"Exhausted," he admitted, and glanced toward his partner, who was looking as though he might fall to a deep sleep any second. "I hope you got them all."

"I think so," V-mon replied, and then yawned. "Hard to tell in all the dust."

"Impossible to tell," Tailmon agreed, looking around them. "Did you have to make such a mess?"

"Sorry," he answered sleepily, and yawned again.


	42. Returning

**The Ancient Curse**

Part Forty-Two: **Returning**

***

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, etc, is not mine. I don't think anyone reading this thinks it is, but in case you were wondering, it's not. Plot, however pitiful it may be, is. In short, don't steal, because I'll send a dozen ninja swordsmen after you, don't sue, because I haven't that much money for you to take, and don't forget to moo, because mooing is fun.

Moo.

This is the very last chapter in a very long saga, and the very end to my days here. Thank you very much to anyone who's read any of it. If you want to read anything else I have or will write, please visit my website, Hope you have enjoyed.

***

As the light of the setting sun slowly filled the room, filtered through the stained glass windows that had not been completely destroyed by the blast of light, the dust that had risen slowly faded.

Daisuke was hoping that none of the swordsmen had survived, as he had barely enough energy remaining to get to his feet. Hikari had fallen half to sleep beside him, eyes heavily drooping as she rested her head upon his shoulder. V-mon had completely given up all pretense of staying awake, and simply fallen to sleep on the dirty floor.

The shadowy figures had vanished, each one leaving a small pile of broken blue glass upon the floor where it had stood, the only evidence of its previous existence. Swords also littered the floor, left behind as the magically-created swordsmen had vanished.

The old man had gotten to his feet and stumbled a few steps forward, stopping at the edge of the platform to drop to his knees. His beard, which had always been white, suddenly seemed more frail than before, his eyes more sunken, his skin more wrinkled. He was clutching the necklace he had worn about his neck in both hands, staring at it with wide eyes.

There had previously been three stones within it: one deep red, one bright blue, one black as night. The blue one had broken, splintered and shadowed as the rest of the crystals in that color. The black one had cracked down the middle but not yet completely fallen to pieces.

"H-how is it possible…?" the old man wondered, his voice wavering as he spoke. "I've worked…so hard…so long. How is it possible?"

Though once he might have summoned up a bit of righteous anger, Daisuke found that he was now too tired to particularly care much about what the old man meant, or what he was saying. Another voice spoke at that moment instead.

"You relied too much upon magic," said the swordsman who still remained. He was sitting on the floor, halfway between the old man and his enemies, and appeared to be badly injured. A great deal of blood had spilled from the wound in his stomach, staining not only his jacket but also his pants and his arms. His right arm was nearly covered in blood, and there was also blood stained upon his forehead, matted in his hair. His partner Gazimon lay unmoving a short distance behind him, breathing heavily and staring up at the ceiling above him.

"I relied too much upon you," the old man retorted in a surprisingly vigorous sounding voice. "You betrayed me!"

The swordsman shrugged, not disagreeing. "I disagreed with your methods," he replied. "I would not resort to murder."

"You murdered plenty," the old man replied in a disgusted voice. "You would not murder one in particular, and if you had…I might have succeeded." He sighed heavily, and then coughed for a long stretch.

"It's too late now," the swordsman replied.

The old man did not answer, for he was still coughing. In the quiet of the room, his coughs echoed off the tall walls and high ceiling. Loud as they were, though, it did not hide the sound of glass shattering as the small black crystal in his necklace splintered even more.

"It is," the old man answered, his voice now quite weak, "never…too late."

But it was. The small black stone shattered, the pieces of it falling to the ground with quiet, almost musical-sounding notes. The old man tried but failed to speak a few more words, then tried, and failed, to take a few more breaths. His eyes, slowly closed, and he fell to the side, landing upon the platform with a solid, final thud.

Daisuke stared at his body for a long moment, but there was no movement. He felt Hikari suddenly tighten her grasp upon his arm, and sit up a bit straighter. "He's dead," she said into the silence. He nodded mutely.

"Don't worry," the swordsman said, "I'll probably join him soon."

"Who - ?" Hikari asked. "Who was he? Who are you?"

He shrugged in answer. "It doesn't much matter, does it?" he replied with a heavy sigh. He paused, winced briefly in pain, and shut his eyes. "If you want reasons, I'll try to explain. I suppose you deserve that much."

He took a deep breath, then opened his eyes once more and turned his gaze toward the old man, lying still and dead upon the ground. "I was an ordinary man until I met him," he began. "He came to visit me…I suppose it was a few years ago now…and said that I was destined for greatness, a destiny that was stolen from me.

"He told me that I should have been a great wizard, but the possibility had been stolen from me by a curse, set upon me by my own ancestor hundreds of years ago. I thought he was crazy, but I followed him and did as he asked because…well, what choice did I have?"

"You could have said no," Daisuke suggested.

Again the swordsman shrugged, then took a deep breath before continuing. "Maybe," he replied, "but then all I would have had was a simple, uneventful life as a fisherman. Some part of me wanted adventure, I suppose, and so I swore to do as he wished, and to follow his orders."

With one hand, covered in blood, he reached for a chain which hung around his neck, and pulled from under his shirt collar a small blue crystal. He tugged at it sharply, and the chain broke. With the same free hand, he tossed it across the room.

"He spent decades," he went on as the crystal landed on the floor before Daisuke. "Decades, stealing magic from every mage or wizard he could find, sometimes bits at a time, sometimes nearly the whole amount in one go. He stored the magic in the crystals, and connected them all with spells."

"Where did he get the crystals?" Hikari wondered.

"He spent decades collecting those, too," the swordsman answered. "They're not so hard to find, as pieces of jewelry, decorations. It took a little more time to find crystals made for teleportation, but he did not lack for money."

"Who?" Daisuke asked. "Why?"

The swordsman had squeezed his eyes shut and winced as another onslaught of pain assaulted him. He was breathing heavily, and speaking more slowly when he answered, "Because the curse that Motomiya cast does not only affect you, but he and I as well, and this seemed the best way to break it: by either killing the descendants of Motomiya, or by forcing some hidden, untapped magic to come free."

Daisuke glanced briefly toward Hikari, wondering if he had missed some part of the story. There was confusion in her eyes, too, though, and she said, "The curse that Motomiya cast?"

"The curse," the swordsman replied, "which robbed all of his descendants of magic, not only the few he wanted to doom."

"Wait a minute," Hikari interrupted before he could continue, "are you telling me that it was Motomiya who put the curse upon his own family?"

"Of course it was," the swordsman answered. "Who did you think had done it?"

Once more she glanced toward Daisuke, who answered. "Otonashi." Had all they had heard been wrong? Or had the swordsman been told a lie? Which was the truth of the story?

The swordsman shook his head with a brief snort of laughter. "No," he answered. "Motomiya cast the curse upon the descendants of both families, in order to punish his own daughter."

He coughed a few times, which brought about a new round of agony, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut. "The daughter of Motomiya," he went on, apparently speaking despite the pain, "fell in love, or perhaps was only seduced, by the son of Otonashi. They met, secretly, as both their fathers disapproved. She became pregnant."

Daisuke now shook his head to clear the confusion. "I thought Otonashi and Motomiya were allies…friends?"

"In so far as they worked together, I suppose," the swordsman answered. "Not in so far as they wished their children to marry." He opened his eyes, wiped a bit of the blood that had dripped from his scalp with his already bloody hand. "They debated killing the baby when it was born, or using some magic to destroy it before then. Instead, he settled upon cursing it, and all those that might come as a result of the union."

"Instead," he said with a heavy sigh as he leaned back, lying down upon the ground, "he cursed all the descendants of both."

"So the two of you," Hikari said after a moment in which both she and Daisuke had been absorbing this revelation, "are cousins, distantly?"

"Quite distantly," the swordsman replied in a weak-sounding voice.

Another moment of silence passed. The swordsman breathed slowly, heavily, his labored exertions the only noise in the room.

"In that case," Daisuke said after a long moment, "we should not let you die." He began to get to his feet, taking with him the bag that Hikari had left on the floor nearby.

"Are you serious?" Tailmon interrupted. "You're going to save the life of the man who's been trying to kill you and everyone else?"

Daisuke shrugged. "He is family, isn't he?" he replied, an explanation which Tailmon seemed to find quite unsatisfactory.

***

The bright midmorning sun had awakened Miyako far earlier than she would have liked from a quite restful sleep. Unable to return to it despite her many attempts, she had gotten dressed and, feeling restless, wandered outside.

The repairs to the house at Motomiya would undoubtedly be a long process, but there was much improvement in the last week. The kitchens had been repaired and cleaned up enough to be used as originally intended, and the servants' quarters nearby were also once more inhabitable.

The fire had left gaping holes in sections of the roof, most of which were now patched. The walls that had been nearly destroyed were not completely rebuilt, but these, too, were improved.

"The only thing missing is the people," Miyako thought aloud, turning back to study the house from a short distance away. She sighed a rather frustrated sigh and turned back to her walk.

"If they haven't returned yet," Hawkmon said, hurrying to catch up, "do you suppose that means…?"

"That something's happened?" Miyako finished. "That Otonashi, or whoever was responsible, succeeded in his goal? That maybe they're both dead?"

"Well, I was going to say it more delicately," her partner replied, "but I suppose that's what I meant."

She sighed again. "Maybe." Momentarily halting her footsteps, Miyako studied the grass at her feet for a moment, and then raised her eyes to study the village in the distance, squinting through the bright sunlight. She lifted one hand to shield her eyes from the glare, and then turned westward, away from the sun.

Her stomach rumbled quietly, reminding her that she had not yet eaten. Somehow, she had wandered a rather far distance from the house, and now it was necessary to walk all the way back. A gentle, cool breeze danced through the tall, green grass, scattering distant blossoms in the wind, carrying the sweet smell of spring flowers. Miyako took a deep breath, inhaling the scent, and felt the wind blow through her hair.

She shut her eyes, spread her arms wide, and let the breeze blow through her fingertips. Her skirts quietly rustled, as did the feathers of her partner.

A tiny spark of magic, barely noticeable, ignited at the very tip of her fingers. A moment later, she felt another, stronger this time. The breeze slowed and then stopped. Miyako's peaceful, contented expression slowly contorted into a puzzled frown.

"It's so nice," Hawkmon commented with a sigh of happiness, and glanced up toward his partner in time to notice her confusion. "Something wrong?"

"I don't know," Miyako replied hesitantly. "I thought I felt something…."

"Something?" he echoed when she did not elaborate.

"Some sort of magic, near the edge of the boundary…," she explained, and then opened her eyes. She had wandered more than a hundred paces, far past the edge of the protection magic that had been cast. "I might be wrong, but I thought it felt like a teleportation spell."

"Do you think the swordsmen are returning?" Hawkmon asked.

"I don't know," she said again, "but I think we'd better investigate." Without pausing for further deliberations upon the matter, she set off at once back toward the house, and the edge of the protective spell.

***

There was a gentle breeze blowing, and the sun was bright, nearly blinding. Distantly, the sound of voices could be heard, of crowds of people engaged in conversation about the day to come, talking of nothing of consequence.

The air smelled of grass, freshly turned dirt, and sweet spring blossoms. As the brightness of the sun faded and his vision became more reliable, Daisuke could see bright blue skies and green grass. A gentle wind blew, and a handful of pink and white blossoms passed through the air. He turned his head and saw the large, red-brick house he called home.

"Did we make it?" Hikari wondered. Her voice sounded sleepy, as though she were only half awake, and when he turned his eyes back toward her, Daisuke saw that her eyes were only half-opened.

"We made it," he replied, and she yawned heavily. "You can sleep now."

She shook her head, as though to disagree with him, but her eyes were already closing nevertheless. "All right," she said, and leaned forward, once again falling into sleep, standing up. Tailmon was already soundly asleep in the grass at her partner's feet.

They were still some distance from the house, and no one had noticed their presence, although there were quite a few people, closer to the building. Hikari had teleported them to a space at the edge of the gardens, halfway between the house and the fields. Workers tending to the fields could clearly be seen, and distantly be heard, but had also not noticed them. Daisuke wondered absently why it was she had not brought them closer to the house as he somehow managed to lift her up in order to carry her there.

He could not, however, carry Tailmon at the same time, he realized, glancing back down at the sleeping feline digimon. V-mon sat down in the grass beside her. "I suppose you can make it to the house on your own," he said with a shrug, "and you don't need me to protect you, since it's not that far."

Daisuke considered this a moment, and glanced back toward the fields. They were not terribly far from the spot in which his father had been killed, quite near to the house. Still, there were no teleporting swordsmen left to attack them. He shrugged in agreement, but before he could speak, another voice did.

"About time!"

If he had not recognized the voice, he would have easily recognized the tone as Miyako's, and he turned to see that she was approaching from the east. "Do you know you've been gone nearly two weeks?" she asked him, "and without any sort of _hint_ as to where you were going or when you'd be back? We were beginning to think you might be dead." She gestured toward Hawkmon, who had followed her.

"Sorry to disappoint," Daisuke replied with a cheerful grin. "I'm actually still alive."

She narrowed her eyes in his direction, as though she were most displeased with this information, and untrusting of his good humor. "And Hikari?" she wondered, eyes falling upon the sleeping princess in his arms.

"Sleeping, that's all," he answered. "I'd like to get her to a better place, if you don't mind." He nodded toward the house, and then took a step in its direction. "I don't suppose you could help?"

Miyako stared at him with the same vaguely disapproving frown for a moment, and then bent to lift the sleeping Tailmon. "I suppose she's tired from teleporting the both of you back here," she said as she followed after him. "Where did you go, the Western Isles?"

Her guess startled him, for he had not expected such accuracy. He paused in his steps briefly to turn in her direction, and she smirked in a rather self-satisfied manner.

"Was that a lucky guess, or did you somehow manage to track us?" he wondered.

"A bit of both," she admitted. "Koushiro was able to sense that neither of you was within the borders of the kingdom, unless she was hiding again. Searching to the East yielded nothing, since there's nothing there, and we couldn't think of any reason under the sun why you'd have gone North. Even though she said she went there once before."

"So, process of elimination," Daisuke concluded.

"Something like that. I didn't have enough magic to cast the wind spell, and Ken couldn't manage to get it to go all the way to even the nearest of the islands." She shrugged. "I don't know that I'd have been able to, either. In any case, our search was interrupted by an attack of swordsmen, and so we had to divert magical resources."

"An attack?" he echoed, once more pausing in his steps. "Is my sister – is everyone all right?"

"Nothing but minor injuries," Miyako answered, waving a dismissive hand. "A scratch here or there, nothing that doesn't heal in a few days. You'll also be interested to know that we managed to cast a protection spell around the house, so you'll be a bit safer from teleporting swordsmen." She paused. "Will there be more of them in the future?"

He shook his head. "No. They're all gone."

They had reached the door by now, and Miyako paused a moment before opening it. She frowned in his direction, then nodded. "Good," she said, and reached for the door.

***


End file.
